Charlie Webb

Pictured in 1921
Personal information
Full name	Charles Graham Webb
Date of birth	(1886-09-04)4 September 1886
Place of birth	Curragh Camp, Ireland
Date of death	13 June 1973(1973-06-13) (aged 86)
Place of death	Hove,Sussex,England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1902–1908	Worthing
1906–1908	Essex Regiment
1908–1909	Bohemians
1909–1915	Brighton & Hove Albion	248	(73)
International career
1909–1911	Ireland	3	(0)
Managerial career
1919–1947	Brighton & Hove Albion
Signature
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Charles Graham Webb (4 September 1886 – 13 June 1973) was an Irishassociation football player who represented his country once as an amateur and three times as a professional. He was employed by English clubBrighton & Hove Albion for nearly forty years as player and manager.^[1]

Webb was born into a Scottish military family at theCurragh Camp, a military camp inCounty Kildare, Ireland, where his father, Sergeant William Webb of theBlack Watch, was stationed. The family moved around following Sgt Webb's postings so the young Webb spent some of his childhood inEdinburgh Castle before settling in theWorthing,Sussex, area.^[2][3] As a 16-year-old, Webb played first-team football for the town club,Worthing F.C., and in his second season, he contributed to Worthing winning a treble of theSussex Senior Cup, theWest Sussex Senior League, and a local charity cup.^[4][5]

In 1904, Webb followed in the family tradition by enlisting in the 2nd Battalion of theEssex Regiment. His trade in the Army was a clerk,^[5] and while serving in Ireland, he furthered his football career playing for his regimental team in theLeinster Senior League,^[6] and later, in theIrish Football League forBohemians.^[2] He scored freely for his regiment, in November 1907 he scored all seven in a 7–4 defeat ofDublin University, and early the following year was the only player from outside the Irish League to be selected for the Leinster representative team to play Ulster.^[7] He had a trial with Scottish clubRangers in 1908, and later that year was chosen to represent the Irish League in a match against theEnglish League.^[2] In November, he wascapped by the Irelandamateur national team, in a match against theEngland amateurs inDublin. Described byThe Times' reporter as "distinctly the best of an indifferent forward line", he scored Ireland's late consolation goal in a 5–1 defeat.^[8]

In January 1909, while on Christmas leave from his regiment, Webb played and scored forBrighton & Hove Albion in aSouthern League match againstWest Ham United.^[9] On his return, the Army discovered he had appeared alongside professionals and banned him from military football for 12 months.The Football Association fined the Brighton club £5 "for having approached and played Webb in violation of the Rules of the Association."^[2][10] Rumours that the military authorities would prevent him playing for Bohemians in the semifinal of theIrish Cup proved unfounded,^[11] but when Webb finished on the winning side, theIrish Times reported thatGlentoran, the losing club, intended to protest his inclusion, on the grounds that playing in the Southern League made him ineligible to appear in the Irish Cup competition.^[12] The result stood, though by the time the final was played, Webb had left the club.^[13] Forced to choose between his military and his football career, he bought himself out of the Army and signed for Albion as an amateur.^[2]

A few days later, Webb became the first Brighton player to be capped at full international level^[2] when he made his debut forIreland againstScotland atIbrox Park on 15 March 1909. Ireland lost 5–0.^[3] In his second international match, a week later againstWales inBelfast, Ireland lost 3–2, and Webb had to play the second half out of position atleft half because of an injury sustained byEnglish McConnell.^[14]

Called up afterAberdeen'sCharlie O'Hagan withdrew from the party selected to playEngland in 1910, Webb was unable to accept the invitation.^[15] His third and last cap came the following year, as replacement forJames Macauley; given "one rare chance to open the scoring ... with no one to beat but the goalkeeper", he shot wide as Scotland went on to win 2–0.^[3][16]

At the end of the 1909–10 season, theTimes reported that "Brighton and Hove Albion have not had much difficulty in finishing at the head of the Southern League".^[18] Webb played in every game as Albion won their first and, as of 2024, only major title.^[19] This achievement earned them a place in theFA Charity Shield in which they faced reigning Football League championsAston Villa atStamford Bridge in London. The only goal of the game was scored in the second half, following a corner kick taken by Albion'sBert Longstaff. Aston Villa's goalkeeper parried the ball into a knot of players, from whereBill Hastings touched it to Webb, "who cleverly evaded a couple of Villa defenders and found the net with a rising cross-shot."^[20] Crowds packed the area around Brighton railway station to welcome the victors home at 11:30 pm, and theSussex Daily News suggested that the team could "now be dubbed as Champions of England".^[20] A testimonial fund raised more than £120 which was distributed among the professional players. As an amateur, Webb could receive no prize money, so the club presented him with a goldtie-pin instead.^[21] He turned professional soon afterwards.^[2]

He finished as the club's leading scorer in 1912–13, with 13 goals in all competitions,^[22] and went on to set a club record for goals scored in the Southern League of 64.^[2] Though his Ireland career was at an end, Webb continued to be selected in representative teams. In September 1912, he scored for the Southern League as the Football League XI beat them 2–1 atOld Trafford, Manchester,^[23] and the following season, he was selected for a Southern Alliance eleven to play that league's champions,Croydon Common; among his teammates wasPatsy Hendren, theEngland Test cricketer.^[24] A serious leg injury sustained in a match againstMillwall in November 1914 effectively put an end to his playing career.^[2] After his playing days, Webb continued to have a significant impact on football. On match days, all the gate money used to be taken to Frith Road and stored in a safe in the larder because the banks were not open on Saturdays. Webb even sold tickets from the house for cup ties.

In tribute to his immense contribution to the club, the bus number 665 was named after Charlie Webb in January 2020. The name had previously been carried by theScania Omnidekka bus 615, which was sold in November 2020. The buses served as a nod to Webb's lasting impact on both Brighton and Hove Albion and the community.

On the outbreak of war, Brighton & Hove Albion supported the war effort by having a rifle range built at theGoldstone Ground. Webb led rifle drill on the pitch, using wooden replicas where there were insufficient actual weapons to go round.^[25] He re-enlisted as asecond lieutenant in theKing's Royal Rifle Corps, and served on theWestern Front from July 1917. Promoted to actingcaptain (the rank was confirmed after the war), he was leading a patrol nearNesle in March 1918 when they were challenged in French. Unfortunately for Webb and his men, the French speakers were German troops. Preferring to avoid unnecessary injury or death, Webb surrendered. He saw out the duration as aprisoner of war inMainz, Germany. While awaiting repatriation, he received a letter from the chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion offering him the post of team manager, an appointment he took up on his demobilisation in 1919.^[2][26]

The club had closed down during the war, so Webb's first task was not only rebuilding the team but also involving himself with rebuilding the ground.^[26] Competition resumed in 1919–20, and the following season, Webb led the team into the Football League as aThird Division was formed largely comprising the Southern League First Division teams of the year before. Awarded atestimonial in recognition of his service to the club, Webb chose the League game againstWatford in April 1921 as his benefit match; it attracted more than 10,000 spectators and raised nearly £500.^[2][27] In the1923–24 FA Cup, Webb led Albion to the fifth round (last 16), defeating First DivisionEverton on the way in what he later described as "the best Cup exhibition of any Albion team under my management".^[28]

He earned a reputation as a sound judge of a player. Immediately after the war, the signing of formerEngland international forwardGeorge Holley for a club record £200 fee was viewed as quite a coup. Holley suffered a career-ending injury, so hardly played, but Webb replaced him withJack Doran who finished as the club's top scorer despite joining halfway through the season.^[29] He broughtTommy Cook through from the juniors into the first team; Cook was top scorer in three seasons, but when he left the club to concentrate on hiscricket career, Webb brought in theQueens Park Rangers reserveHugh Vallance, who turned out to be a "goalscoring phenomenon" alongsideDan Kirkwood.^[30]

Again, when twice top scorerArthur Attwood succumbed toappendicitis in 1933, Webb signed formerNorwich City centre-forwardOliver "Buster" Brown who had failed to break into the first team atWest Ham Unitedwith regular football at Albion, Brown produced 41 goals in his first two seasons.^[31]

Between the wars, Webb's teams finished in the top five of the Third Division South on ten occasions, but challenged seriously for promotion only in the latter half of the 1930s. He led the team to third place in 1936–37,^[32] despite an uneasy relationship with the club's board, the supporters, and the press. The board came under criticism for alleged interference in team affairs, having undue influence over the manager in pressing the claims for selection of one player over another. Letters to the local press suggested that Webb should "be allowed greater freedom",^[33] while in theEvening Argus, the pseudonymous "Crusader"'s "vitriolic attacks on the directors and management of Brighton and Hove Albion for their alleged lack of ambition and inept team selections ... generated a massive readership response" and led to "near physical confrontations with Charlie Webb, the beleaguered manager and former Albion player, despite the team usually finishing in a respectable position in the League table."^[34] The club's relationship with the local newspaper worsened during the 1937–38 season, to the extent that "Crusader" was "either banned by the directors or was voluntarily taken off by [the editor]".^[35] Webb himself told theDaily Express: "Here you have a town full of people with money, yet hardly one of them will give us a hand. Without attractive new players and a winning team you can't get gates and without gates you can't have money."^[36]

Nevertheless, the national press recognised his achievements. ADaily Mirror feature in 1939 compared him toGeorge Allison ofArsenal andFrank Buckley ofWolverhampton Wanderers,

but where some think and act in thousands of pounds, Charles is compelled to do the same in pence, and the consistently good football of Brighton is a tribute in itself ... His great knowledge of the game has saved his club money in the way of transfer fees, and the reserve team is composed entirely of players found by him, costing not a penny. Even the first team cost very little, the highest fee paid being £50, and yet Brighton have been keen fighters for promotion for the past three seasons.^[37]

AGuardian retrospective on the club, written in 1973, described how "Brighton had a skilful team usually playing to the top six" under Webb, "whose transfer acquisitions were as often as not costed on the price of his train ticket and buffet sandwiches".^[38]

No longer of an age for active service, Webb joined theHome Guard during the war.^[2] Albion continued to compete in the various wartime leagues, and Webb skilfully exploited the regulations allowing players to make guest appearances for the club nearest to their base.^[19] He was particularly fortunate that theKing's Liverpool Regiment's posting toNewhaven in 1941 gave him the pick ofLiverpool F.C.'s pre-war team.^[39] In their absence, he was reduced to selecting youngsters or soliciting members of the crowd to make up the numbers, as at Norwich City at Christmas 1940, when his travelling party of one senior player and three amateurs was supplemented byJimmy Ithell ofBolton Wanderers, Norwich City juniors and local servicemen; Albion lost 18–0.^[40] At the end of the 1946–47 season, at the age of 60, Webb handed over responsibility for team affairs to former playerTommy Cook, remaining with the club on the administrative side, as secretary and general manager. A few days after a 4–0 home defeat toWalsall left Albion at the bottom of the table, provoking a demonstration after the match, the directors appointedDon Welsh as secretary-manager. Webb stayed on until the end of the 1947–48 season to assist his successor, then left the club and retired from football.^[2][41]

Such was Webb's standing in the game that he was awarded a second testimonial. In September 1949,Portsmouth, reigning Football League title-holders, though unable to field a full first team because "[their] dressing-room [was] like a hospital",^[42] beatArsenal, their predecessors as champions, by two goals to one in "an exhibition of memorable football" at the Goldstone Ground.^[2][43] After his retirement, he wrote a regular column in theSussex Daily News.^[2] Webb continued living in the Frith Road house until shortly before his death in aHove nursing home in 1973, at the age of 86. A tree was planted opposite the ground in his memory.^[44]

Webb was married to Minnie Gertrude Benn for over 60 years.^[26] The couple had two children, Kenneth and Joyce. Kenneth, who was married to his wife Doreen, had worked for the local newspaperEvening Argus, but was killed during theSecond World War. He was aboard anAvro Lancaster III bomber when it was shot down while attempting to attack aV1 rocket launch site atLa Nieppe.^[45]

Charles and Minnie's daughter, Joyce was born on the same day as the 1910Charity Shield,^[46] and their son Kenneth was born in 1916 and died in August 1944. Joyce outlived her parents, and Joyce appeared on screen at the football club's centenary celebration,^[47] during which her father was honored as one of 24 legends profiled in the commemorative publication.^[1][48] In 2003, she further commemorated her family's history by unveiling a memorial plaque on their former home on Frith Road.^[49]

According toJess Willard, one of Webb's post-Second World War signings, "everybody called him Mr Webb because he was a perfect gentleman".^[50] A 1929 feature on the club in theSussex County Magazine spoke of him as "one of the most dominating personalities associated with the club", discharging his managerial duties "with such conspicuous success" while remaining "genial and popular with directors, players and public alike".^[51]

• Camillin, Paul & Weir, Stewart (2001).Albion – The first 100 years. Brighton: Pavilion.ISBN 0-9532045-0-2.
• Carder, Tim & Harris, Roger (1997).Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books.ISBN 0-9521337-1-7.
• Carder, Tim & Harris, Roger (1993).Seagulls! The Story of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books.ISBN 0-9521337-0-9.
• Hounsome, Robert (2006).The very nearly man: an autobiography. Leicester: Troubador.ISBN 1-905237-72-3.
• Vinicombe, John (1978).Albion: An illustrated history of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Norwich: George Nobbs.
• Source ofKenneth Graham Webb (Charles's child)

• 1886 births
• 1973 deaths
• Military personnel from County Kildare
• Sportspeople from County Kildare
• Irish association footballers (before 1923)
• Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers
• Men's association football forwards
• Bohemian F.C. players
• Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
• Leinster Senior League (association football) players
• Southern Football League players
• Republic of Ireland association football managers
• Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. managers
• Essex Regiment soldiers
• British Army personnel of World War I
• King's Royal Rifle Corps officers
• British World War I prisoners of war
• World War I prisoners of war held by Germany
• Irish people of Scottish descent

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