Peter Sillett
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Peter Tudor Sillett | ||
| Date of birth | 1 February 1933 | ||
| Place of birth | Southampton, England | ||
| Date of death | 13 March 1998 (aged 65) | ||
| Place of death | Ashford, Kent, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Right-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1949–1950 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1950–1953 | Southampton | 59 | (4) |
| 1953–1962 | Chelsea | 260 | (29) |
| 1962–1965 | Guildford City | ||
| 1965–1973 | Ashford Town | ||
| Total | 319 | (33) | |
| National team | |||
| 1955 | England U23 | 3 | (0) |
| 1955 | England | 3 | (0) |
| 1957 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1965–1973 | Ashford Town | ||
| 1979–1983 | Hastings United | ||
| 1985–1987 | Ashford Town | ||
| 1988–1992 | Hastings Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Richard Peter Tudor Sillett (known as Peter Sillett) (1 February 1933 – 13 March 1998) was an England footballer. He played for Chelsea and Southampton as a right-back, and made three appearances for England. He was the older brother of John Sillett, who managed Coventry City to FA Cup success in 1987. Sir Stanley Matthews once said that Sillett was the best full-back he ever played against.
Peter was the son of Charlie Sillett (who was a full-back with Southampton from 1931 to 1938) and inherited his father’s skills. He joined the Saints in January 1949 and soon afterwards gained England Youth recognition.
Extremely well-built, weighing over 13 stone when only 18, Sillett matured quickly into a full-back of some distinction.
In 1953, while he was doing his National Service in the RAF he came up against Stanley Matthews when Saints took Blackpool, the eventual winners, to an FA Cup replay.
Unfortunately, Southampton were facing mounting debts and, with this fact known to many of the country's top clubs, it wasn't too long before Sillett, together with his younger brother John, was "induced" to join Ted Drake's Chelsea, for a fee of £12,000.
In his two seasons at The Dell, he made 65 appearances in all competitions and scored four goals.
Sillett signed for Chelsea in 1953 and became club's established full-back when fit. A strong defender with a powerful shot, he scored 34 goals for Chelsea, which made him the highest scoring defender in the club's history until being overtaken recently by John Terry, and is acclaimed for scoring what is widely perceived as the 1954–55 title-winning goal. During a match against Chelsea's principal rivals, Wolves on Easter Saturday 1955 in front of a crowd of 75,043, Chelsea were awarded a penalty with that game at 0–0 after Wolves captain Billy Wright had handled the ball in the penalty area. Sillett stepped up to take it and nervelessly smashed the ball past goalkeeper Bert Williams to give Chelsea a 1–0 win and complete a league double over Wolves, one of five goals he netted in the run-in. Chelsea went on to wrap up the title in their next home game, against Sheffield Wednesday.
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