ALBERT CHEESEBROUGH 

Date and Place of Birth 17th January 1935 - Burnley   Transfers to and from Burnley amateur then pro - January 1952 to Leicester City - June 1959 (£20,000)   First and Last Burnley Games Manchester United (h) - 11th April 1952   Newcastle United (h) - 25th April 1959   Other Clubs ---------------------------------------- Leicester City, Port Vale, Mansfield Town

Burnley Career Stats

Profile by Tony Scholes

The first time I came across the name of Albert Cheesebrough was sat with my dad watching the 1961 FA Cup Final between Spurs and Leicester on television.

I'd only just got my interest in football and wasn't really aware that players could, and did, change club from time to time. I'd assumed Burnley players played for Burnley and the rest for other clubs and that was that. So I was surprise when he pointed out the Leicester inside-left and said he used to play for Burnley.

That cup final appearance was at the end of the second of four seasons he enjoyed with Leicester but it was at Turf Moor where the Burnley born Cheesebrough started his career, with his home town club.

'Cheesy' had been spotted playing schoolboy football for Rosegrove school and for the town and county teams and the Burnley scouts were impressed enough with him for him to be offered an office staff position in the summer of 1950.

He continued to impress once at Burnley and went on to play for England at schoolboy level in 1951 as he rose through the junior teams at Turf Moor. There was never any doubt that he would be offered a professional deal and he duly signed that on his 17th birthday in January 1952.

It wasn't long either before he was in the first team, making his debut in April of the same year against Manchester United. He deputised for that, and the next game, for outside-left Billy Elliott and then moved over to outside-right for the next, and final, three games of the season as deputy for Jackie Chew.

Those five appearances at the end of the 1951/52 season didn't lead to a regular first team place; he had to wait until the 1955/56 season for that when he finally laid claim to his place. It wasn't on either wing but at inside-left, playing alongside winger Brian Pilkington in a Burnley team that had the smallest forward line in English football.

Such was his form that in the following season he was called up for England at under-23 level and played just the one game against France at Ashton Gate, home of Bristol City, and that form continued through a full three seasons.

The diminutive Cheesebrough was a powerful player and he had a ferocious shot and that boosted his goal tally as Burnley progressed in the second half of the 1950s. However, his place came under real threat in the 1958/59 season because of the emerging Jimmy Robson.

He played only sparingly for the most part but won his place back in April 1959 and played the last seven games of the season. Burnley were just a year from becoming champions but, despite that late run in the side, it was time up for Albert who was sold in the summer of 1959 to Leicester for £20,000.

Whilst his former team mates were picking up the title, he had a good first season at Leicester and was their leading goalscorer, and the second season ended with that trip to Wembley although they were beaten 2-0 by the Spurs' double side.

Two years later they were back at Wembley, losing again in the final to Manchester United. This time Cheesebrough wasn't in the side and had played his last game for the Filbert Street club. He was sold that summer, 1963, to Port Vale but his second season there ended in relegation and he made the last move of his career to Mansfield, then managed by his former Burnley team mate Tommy Cummings.

He was doing well at Mansfield but suffered a broken leg that ended his career and he retired from the game to open up a butcher's shop in Southport which he run until he retired.

Albert Cheesebrough was not only a good footballer, playing for so long in the first division, but an all round sportsman. He became a very good golfer whilst, during his time at Burnley, he also played Lancashire League cricket for Lowerhouse.

Sport was very much a family trait and his daughter Susan represented Great Britain as a gymnast at both the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games in Montreal and Moscow respectively.