Chelsea FC Profile: Bobby Atherton
Full Name: Robert William Atherton
Born: Saturday, 29th July 1876
Place of birth: Bethesda, Caernarvonshire, Wales
Died: Friday, 19th October 1917 (aged 41)
Place of death: At Sea, England
Burial: Commemorated - WW1 memorial within the Tower Hill Memorial, EC3N 4DH
Involvement with Chelsea:
Men's Non First-Team from 1906 to 1907
Pending individual appearances being added to the database, this is the information from Peter Wollaston's reserve Team players book:
Although born in Wales, Bobby Atherton was brought up in Scotland and started playing football for Dalry Primrose before moving to Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian. In 1903 he was signed up by Middlesbrough where he played 60 games (13 goals) before moving to Chelsea in July 1906. He played for Chelsea for just a single year and in that season he played just one game in the Western League, 3 games in the South Eastern League, but being in the proposed line-up in 3 other games and a solitary match in the London League, where again he was also in one other proposed line-up.
Having retired in May 1907, Atherton moved back to Edinburgh becoming a steward in the Merchant Navy. His ship disappeared without trace in October 1917 either due to a mine or enemy action and he was presumed dead. He is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London, dedicated to civilian merchant sailors and fishermen who were killed as a result of enemy action and have no known grave.
Playing Career:
Dalry Primrose
Heart Of Midlothian
Hibernian
Middlesbrough
Chelsea (Jul 1906 to Apr 1907) - cost: unknown - Retired
* Retired = Retired from playing at the end of Chelsea contract, or for reason stated
Non-Competitive First-Team Appearances
| Non-Competitive First-Team Goals
|
Figures in ( ) are substitute appearances and are also included in the totals.
i.e. Bobby Atherton made 1 appearances for Chelsea, of which 0 were as a substitute.
Non-Competitive First-Team Matches Played
| Comp | Date | Home | Away | Att | |||
| Friendly | 12th Sep 1906 | Crystal Palace | 4 | 0 | Chelsea | 2,000 |  |
Non-First-Team Appearances
| Non-First-Team Goals
|
Figures in ( ) are substitute appearances and are also included in the totals.
i.e. Bobby Atherton made 11 appearances for Chelsea, of which 0 were as a substitute.
Non-First-Team Matches Played
| Comp | Date | Home | Away | Att | |||
| Reserve League | 1st Sep 1906 | Sittingbourne | 1 | 1 | Chelsea | 1,000 |  |
| Reserve League | 15th Sep 1906 | Queens Park Rangers | 1 | 0 | Chelsea | 0 | |
| Reserve League | 22nd Sep 1906 | Crystal Palace | 1 | 1 | Chelsea | 0 | |
| Reserve League | 29th Sep 1906 | Maidstone United | 2 | 0 | Chelsea | 0 | |
| Reserve League | 6th Oct 1906 | Chelsea | 0 | 4 | Woolwich Arsenal | 0 | |
| Reserve League | 15th Oct 1906 | Queens Park Rangers | 1 | 0 | Chelsea | 2,000 | |
| Reserve League | 9th Mar 1907 | Luton Town | 5 | 2 | Chelsea | 0 | |
| Reserve League | 29th Mar 1907 | Hastings & St Leonards United | 2 | 1 | Chelsea | 1,000 | |
| Reserve League | 1st Apr 1907 | West Ham United | 3 | 0 | Chelsea | 1,500 | |
| Reserve League | 6th Apr 1907 | Norwich City | 3 | 2 | Chelsea | 1,500 | |
| Reserve League | 22nd Apr 1907 | Chelsea | 2 | 5 | Leyton | 0 | |
Chelsea Graves Society Info & External Research Links:
On 19 Oct 1917 he was onboard the SS Britannia which was sunk by a U-boat in the English Channel with the loss of all 22 crew.
He is commemorated along with the rest of the crew of the SS Britannia on the WW1 memorial within the Tower Hill Memorial, EC3N 4DH, which is run by the CWGC to commemorate civilian merchant sailors and fishermen who were killed as a result of enemy action and have no known grave.
View CGS profile for Robert William Atherton on Ancestry
View CGS profile for Robert William Atherton on Find-A-Grave
View location on Zeemaps for Robert William AthertonReturn to Player Directory.
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