William Chatterton

Who was William Chatterton?

William Chatterton was an English cricketer and footballer. He played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1882 and 1902 and for England in 1891/2. He captained Derbyshire between 1887 and 1889 and scored over 10,000 runs in his first-class career as well as taking over 200 wickets. He played football for Derby County, being one of 19 sportsmen to achieve the Derbyshire Double of playing cricket for Derbyshire and football for Derby County.

Chatterton was born at Thornsett, Birch Vale, Derbyshire, the son of David Chatterton, a cotton mill fireman, and his wife Hannah. In 1881 he was a cotton carrier in the mills at Newton Cheshire. He started playing cricket for Derbyshire in the 1882 season and football for Derby County in 1884.

Chatterton was an inside-forward and played in Derby County's first FA Cup tie against Walsall Town on 8 November 1884, which Derby County lost 7–0. He played many games for the club before the Football League was formed in 1888. He then made five League appearances for Derby County in the first Football League season of 1888–89.

Chatterton was captain of Derbyshire cricket from 1887 to 1889. The club was demoted from first-class status before the 1888 season. In 1891–92 Chatterton toured South Africa. Although it was a winter in which two England sides toured, but later the representative games there were raised to Test match status, which meant that Chatterton played one Test match. Chatterton was considered to be almost single-handedly responsible for Derbyshire regaining first-class status in the 1894 season. He finished his cricketing career for Derbyshire in the 1902 season.