Swale council’s Leader Roger Truelove has paid tribute to former Charlton Athletic footballer and Kent cricketer Derek Ufton who died on Saturday aged 92.

Cllr Truelove who lives in Sittingbourne is a lifelong supporter of both Charlton Athletic FC and Kent County Cricket Club.

He said: "Derek Ufton was a childhood hero who I met and played cricket with. When I started supporting Charlton 67 years ago there were four players who were also Kent cricketers, impossible today, and a number of players came from the local community.”

He recalled: "On a Saturday late in August 1954 I was a home-alone nine-year-old who decided to catch a bus and watch Charlton Athletic in the First Division of the Football League. They beat Huddersfield 2-1 and I became a lifelong supporter.

"One of the best players was Derek Ufton who got one cap for England. By 1957 Charlton had been relegated to the Second Division and one grim December afternoon they again played Huddersfield. Derek Ufton played a significant if involuntary part in the game.

"He had to be stretchered off with a dislocated shoulder and taken to hospital. In those days there were no substitutes and 11 men always seemed to beat 10. Huddersfield, managed by Bill Shankly, were 5-1 up with 25 minutes left. Charlton went on to win 7-6. It is a famous match.

"From 1956-63 I was invited to attend development nets with Kent County Cricket Club so I followed Kent matches and saw Derek Ufton play a number of times.

"I played for the Kent Schools sides for four years and was advised to join a good club with a good fixture list. So I joined Dartford. Derek's dad was our scorer and Derek played occasionally.

"During the 1980s I was treasurer for the English Schools Cricket Association which had a lot of funding and support from the Lord's Taverners of which Derek Ufton was a prominent member. Charlton were exiled to Selhurst Park and on one occasion Derek arranged for me and my son Richard to watch a match from the directors' box.

"Charlton's fates have never been great but there was a purple patch from 1998-2006 when they were in the Premier Division under Alan Curbishley and Derek was a key director.

"Derek Wyatt, former Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, is also a fervent Charlton supporter and Derek Ufton invited us as guests on some occasions. He was a very smooth and gentlemanly ex-sportsman."

Derek Ufton played more than 250 games for Charlton and until his death was English football's oldest surviving international. He scored nearly 4,000 runs for Kent.

'My claim to fame is that Mick Jagger asked for my autograph'

He was born in Dartford on May 31, 1928, and went to Dartford Grammar School where Mick Jagger's father Joe was PE teacher. He once joked: "My claim to fame is that Mick Jagger asked for my autograph before I asked for his."

He was married twice and had two children with each wife.

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