Albert Cheesebrough 1935-2020

Burnley-born former Claret Albert Cheesebrough has died in Southport at the age of 85.
Albert Cheesebrough, pictured far right with Leicester City in March 1963Albert Cheesebrough, pictured far right with Leicester City in March 1963
Albert Cheesebrough, pictured far right with Leicester City in March 1963

Cheesebrough, who made 158 appearances for Burnley, scoring 40 goals between making his debut in April 1952, and April 1959.

In June 1959, the winger or inside forward joined Leicesterv City for £20,000, following the emergence of Jimmy Robson.

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Cheesebrough was Leicester’s leading scorer in his first season at Filbert Street as Burnley went on to become First Division champions.

He was an outstanding young player who starred for his school team at Rosegrove and Lancashire Schoolboys – as well as being capped by England at youth level – before joining Burnley’s office staff as a 15-year-old.

Originally playing as an amateur, he signed professional forms in January, 1952, making his First Division debut as a winger against Manchester United just three months later.

Playing initially under Frank Hill and then Alan Brown, Cheesebrough became a regular starter in the 1956/57 season and was then part of the great side being moulded by Potts.

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He missed only two league games in the 1957/58 campaign as the Clarets finished sixth in the First Division under Potts following his mid-season appointment.

Of Cheesebrough’s 14 goals that season, three came in a hat-trick against Leicester.

His appearances were more sporadic the following season as Potts fine-tuned his plans for a successful assault on the title in the 1959/60 season.

But Cheesebrough, who played once for England’s Under-23 side, bowed out on a high and left the Clarets as one of the club’s most successful hometown players who went on to enjoy an FA Cup final appearance with Leicester in 1961.

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He then played for Port Vale and Mansfield Town before injury ended his career in 1967.

He went into business as a butcher in Southport, where he lived for the remainder of his life and leaves a wife Shirley and daughters Susan (an Olympic gymnast for the 1980 GB team), Anne and Catherine.