 Holton in 1958 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Clifford Charles Holton | ||
| Date of birth | (1929-04-29)29 April 1929 | ||
| Place of birth | Oxford, England | ||
| Date of death | 31 May 1996(1996-05-31) (aged 67) | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Oxford City | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1947–1958 | Arsenal | 198 | (83) |
| 1958–1961 | Watford | 120 | (84) |
| 1961–1962 | Northampton Town | 62 | (50) |
| 1962–1965 | Crystal Palace | 101 | (40) |
| 1965–1966 | Watford | 24 | (12) |
| 1966 | Charlton Athletic | 18 | (7) |
| 1966–1968 | Leyton Orient | 47 | (17) |
| Total | 570 | (293) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Clifford Charles Holton (29 April 1929 – 31 May 1996) was an Englishfootballer.
Born inOxford, Holton played as afull back for non-leagueOxford City as a youth, before joiningArsenal in October 1947 at the age of 18. He spent three seasons in Arsenal's' reserve team, eventually converting to acentre forward, although his progress was restricted in part bynational service.[1] He made his debut againstStoke City on 26 December 1950; initially a bit-part player, he became an established regular in the side in1951–52 and remained there for three seasons. He was in the Arsenal side to reach the FA Cup Final in 1952.
With 22 goals (19 of them in the league) he helped Arsenal to aFirst Division title in1952–53. However, he lost his place in the Arsenal side in1954–55, before returning the following season (1955–56), having been converted into a utility man – playing indefence,midfield or up front. He continued to figure for Arsenal for another three seasons and on 6 October 1956, he scored four goals in a home match againstManchester City, becoming the first player sinceJack Lambert to score more than three in a game atHighbury. In all he scored 88 goals in 217 matches for Arsenal. Although he was often tipped for anEngland place, he never won a cap for his country.
Holton was sold toWatford in October 1958 for £9,000,[1] a somewhat surprising move, considering Watford were in the newly formedFourth Division at the time. Holton spent three seasons with the Hornets, mostly at centre forward. He formed a successful partnership withDennis Uphill, scoring a club record 48 goals in1959–60, which also saw the club promoted to theThird Division. Holton was then controversially sold toNorthampton Town in 1961 where he scored a club record 36 goals in1961–62, thus achieving the rare feat of holding the all-time goals in a season record at two different clubs.
Holton went on to play forCrystal Palace, signing in December 1962[2] and was part of the Palace side which achieved promotion to the second tier in 1964, with 43 appearances that season scoring 20 goals.[3] He then signed for Watford (for a second time) on 6 May 1965,[2] before moving on toCharlton Athletic (in a deal which sawStewart Scullion move in the opposite direction)[4] and subsequentlyLeyton Orient. He finally retired in 1968, due in part to a knee injury,[1] and left the game completely to take up a career inengineering. He died suddenly while on holiday in 1996, at the age of 67.
Arsenal