Cliff Britton
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Clifford Samuel Britton | ||
| Date of birth | 29 August 1909 | ||
| Place of birth | Hanham, England | ||
| Date of death | 1 December 1975 (aged 66) | ||
| Place of death | Anlaby, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m) | ||
| Playing position | Wing half | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| – | Hanham Athletic | ? | (?) |
| – | Hanham United Methodists | ? | (?) |
| – | Jennings Ltd | ? | (?) |
| – | Bristol St. George | ? | (?) |
| 1928–1930 | Bristol Rovers | 50 | (1) |
| 1930–1938 | Everton | 221 | (2) |
| National team | |||
| 1934–1937 | England | 9 | (1) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1945–1948 | Burnley | ||
| 1948–1956 | Everton | ||
| 1956–1961 | Preston North End | ||
| 1961–1969 | Hull City | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Clifford Samuel Britton was a footballer and football manager. He was born 29 August 1909 in Hanham in Bristol and died 1 December 1975.
After playing amateur football for a number of teams in the Bristol area, his professional playing career began when he signed for Bristol Rovers in 1928. He made over 50 appearances for Rovers, where he was a team-mate of his brother Frank Britton. Britton was signed by Everton in 1930. At first he was deemed too frail and so he was playing in the reserves in the 1931–32 Championship season, but he was one of the stars of Everton's 1933 FA Cup win. He was one of the classiest playmakers of his era, who could produce miracles with short or long passes. Dixie Dean said that he was the best crosser of the ball that he played with. Dean joked that Britton's precision ensured that the laces on the ball were turned away when Dean had to head it. Britton made 242 appearances for Everton though only scoring three goals. Between 1934 and 1937 Britton also played nine times for England.
After the war, Britton was made manager of Burnley in October 1945. He quickly steered Burnley to promotion from the Second Division in the 1946–47 season and to the 1947 FA Cup Final. He was appointed manager of Everton in 1948 and was regarded as a big improvement over the previous manager Theo Kelly.
Unlike his predecessor Britton was an ex-player and was said to have easy-going approachability so confidence improved. Britton was also a disciplinarian and it was said that his ideal team would be eleven 'teetotallers'. However the Everton squad was of low quality and suffered eleven consecutive defeats in September to November of the 1950–51 season. In a desperate foray into the transfer market, Britton spent £28,000 on an uninspiring inside forward, Harry Potts from Burnley when a new centre forward was desperately needed. (He could have brought Tommy Lawton back for less money). In 1950–51 Everton were two points clear of the relegation zone but contrived to suffer a 6–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, while Chelsea beat Bolton Wanderers 4–0 and so Everton were relegated on goal average.
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