Les Fell may be 89 years of age but he certainly hasn’t forgotten playing professionally at Charlton Athletic for 9 years and his enthusiasm for football remains strong. Les, who now lives at Rogers House residential care home, part of The Abbeyfield Kent Society, received a special visit from Charlton Athletic Former Players Association who wanted to learn more about Les’s career at Charlton Athletic and how football has changed since the war.
The Former Players Association has kept in touch with Les since he retired from football in 1954 and regularly arranged for Les to watch games and get involved in social events. Les’s eyesight and mobility have since deteriorated which makes it harder for Les to travel and see games, however still an avid supporter he listens to football on the radio.
Phil Webster, from The Former Players Association, also runs a project called CHOICE Tv. Through short films he conveys the atmosphere of the Charlton Athletic games and keeps fans and expats in touch with the club so they can follow the latest news from
abroad. From the visit Webster has developed a short video of Les talking about his career to capture his heritage as a professional footballer. The video can be viewed through CHOICE Tv pages on
Facebook
Born in 1920 Les has always been a devoted footballer and started playing for Margate at 13 years of age, and it was when he was playing for Gravesend [aged 22] that he was spotted by Charlton Athletic. Les was paid £12 a week which he describes as a “top wage and one of the best paid jobs of the time.”
Undoubtedly, Les’s football highlight was playing at Wembley, with a crowd of 100,000 people, in 1946 against Derby County in the first FA Cup final since the war. He recalls travelling up to the game by train from Margate and before the match his food of choice was “cups of Bovril”.
Even though Les was on the losing team, the final score being 4 -1 to Derby, it was an exciting match with the teams equalising before extra time. It was also a historic day and after the game Les received a medal from King George VI. This was in bronze because on the day of the FA Cup final there was only enough gold for the winning team. His gold medal was sent several months later by the Queen Mother.
Looking through old photographs and football programmes from his days at Charlton Les recalls: “I’ve pretty much always played as number 7 and was fast on my feet and there weren’t many footballers that stood a chance of getting past me.”
When asked if football has changed, Les comments: “It’s a different world, you can’t compare it. That was real football back then.