The World Cup in South Africa is almost upon us and I’m sure all you avid England supporters are already debating which players should be picked for the squad. As Wiltshire is not well known as a county that ‘sports’ England players; it may surprise you to know that we have produced a few over the years…

John Atyeo's England Shirt, c.1950s

Harold Fleming from Downton was born in 1887 and excelled at all kinds of sport, but was spotted playing football for his local church team by Swindon Football Club’s secretary/manager Sam Allen and invited for a trial. He played for Swindon Town, ‘drifting’ at inside right towards the forward line, balance and ball control being his main attributes.  In his time, Swindon Town were playing in an Edwardian version of today’s premier league. Harold played eleven times for England, but his official total was nine; quite impressive for his day. His best known achievement was in 1912 when he scored a hat-trick against Ireland. He remains the only full international England player to have played for Swindon Town.


George Marks' Baptism Entry, 1915

George Marks was born in Figheldean in 1915 and began his career at his local club, the Salisbury Corinthians, before joining Arsenal as an amateur (and later professional) in 1936. During World War II he served in the RAF but still managed to gain eight caps for England as their goalkeeper. After the war he was sold for £5,000 to Blackburn Rovers, a record fee for a keeper in those days.


Salisbury football match in Victoria Park, Salisbury, early 20th century
Ref: P7957

Peter John Walter Atyeo was born in 1932 in Standerwick, Somerset, moving to Dilton Marsh aged five. He played junior football for Wiltshire Schools and also for Westbury United FC, becoming semi professional at Bristol City FC in 1951 (where he has a stand named after him). He obtained offers from Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, and AC Milan whilst at City; reputedly the Italians were willing to pay £50,000 for him. He played at inside right for England, his first match being against Spain in 1955 when England won 4-1. Whilst playing football Atyeo worked as a quantity surveyor and a trained mathematician, teaching at Kingsdown School, Warminster for 20 years. He also wrote for a Plymouth based newspaper, the Sunday Independent. To find out about our other England players, please 'read more'...

 
Article in the Wiltshire Times
December 3rd, 1955, p.16 

Mick Channon was born in Orcheston in 1948. He played as a striker for Southampton, debuting in 1966 and playing for England in the 1970s, gaining 46 international caps over five years. Interestingly, his debut first team appearance for Southampton was against Bristol City, with John Atyeo scoring both City's goals in a 2-2 draw! He became the highest paid footballer in the country during his spell at Maine Road for Manchester City. His first competitive match for  England was in the ‘infamous’ World Cup Qualifier against Poland at Wembley where he spent most of the match in the Polish half trying to ‘break the deadlock’. His efforts at goal were not successful but the match ended 1-1. He still remains joint 16^th (with Kevin Keegan) in the all England scores list. His trademark goal celebration was known as the ‘windmill celebration’. As an ITV pundit he was well known for his outspokenness and strong regional accent! He became a licensed horse trainer in 1990 and by 2002 had had 123 winners, having become one of the sports most respected trainers.

 
Mick Channon with his mother in a Salisbury sports shop, 1976
Ref: P4936

Dean Ashton was born in Swindon in 1983, and has played for Crewe Alexandra, Norwich City and West Ham United. In August 2006 he was called up for England but suffered a broken ankle in an international training session for a friendly game against Greece. He was called up again to face Estonia but became injured a few days after his call up, finally making his England debut in June 2008. He was highly praised as a talented centre forward, but retired through injury in 2009.

Our hopes now rest with Liam Williams, the Bradford Town footballer who was called up to play for the Under 18 England Schoolboy squad at the beginning of the year to compete in some international friendly matches, two of which were televised. Let’s hope he is able to fulfill his potential and fly the banner for Wiltshire as an adult England football star!

Julie Davis
Local Studies Assistant


References
'An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who' by Douglas Lamming, 1990
Hutton Press Ltd, ISBN-10: 0907033938 'Arsenal's Who's Who' by Jeff Harris, 1995
Independent Magazines (UK) Ltd , ISBN-10: 1899429034

'Atyeo: The Hero Next Door' by Tom Hopegood and Hohn Hudson, 2005
Redcliffe Press Ltd, ISBN-10: 1-904537-41-3

www.downton.org.uk/downton_history.htm

 'Mick Channon: Man on the Run, an Autobiography' by Mick Channon, 1986
Arthur Barker Ltd, ISBN: 0-213-16930-4

'Southampton's Cult Heroes' by Jeremy Wilson, 2006
Know the Score Books , ISBN-10: 1905449011