Full-back Stan Charlton won four England amateur caps with Bromley, including one in the 2-1 defeat by Scotland in the first amateur international at Wembley in 1952. A few days later Charlton was named in the Great Britain squad for the Olympic Games that summer although he never played. After the Games he turned professional with Leyton Orient and in his first spell with the club played 151 League games before a move to Arsenal in November 1955 as part of a £30,000 transfer which also took teammate Vic Groves to Highbury. He played 99 League games for the Gunners before returning to Orient in December 1958. He played a further 216 League games at Brisbane Road, taking his total Football League appearances to 466. His finest hour was in captaining the Orient side that won promotion to the top tier of English football in 1961-62. After winning promotion against Bury he was chaired off the pitch by fans in what he called the most emotional moment of his career. He moved to Weymouth as player/manager in 1965 but after 18 games an injury ended his playing career although he continued as manager for seven years and won the Southern League title in his first season. After leaving the manager’s chair he took up a secretarial role with the club. Stan’s father was also a full-back in the 1920s and 30s and played for several clubs including Exeter City, Crystal Palace and Newport County.
Great Britain