FOOTBALL fans are hoping to restore the gravestone of a famous Manchester United and Chelsea player from the 1910s who is buried in Essex.
The Chelsea Graves Society has been researching the final resting places of ex-players from the club – and hopes to restore those which need some care.
They discovered the grave of Harold James Halse, who made 96 appearances for the club between 1913 and 1921, at Walton-on-the-Naze Cemetery.
Halse was born in Leytonstone, London, in 1886 and went on to play for teams including Manchester United, Aston Villa and Southend United.
He was the first player to appear in three FA Cup finals for three different clubs and scored six goals for Manchester United in their 8-4 win against Swindon in the Charity Shield in 1911.
He also played for England once, scoring twice in an 8-1 win over Austria. He died, aged 63, in Colchester in 1949.
Football star - Harold Halse
The Chelsea Graves Society is now hoping to track down any surviving members of Halse’s family living in the Walton area.
Andrew Rowley, from the society, said: “Together with some fellow Chelsea FC fans we have been researching and recording the final resting places of ex-players.
“One such player was Harold James Halse, a famous footballer from 1905 to 1923.
“Ourselves and a similar group from Manchester United had been looking for a long time for his final resting place as there was a lot of conflicting information about him.
“A month ago we found that he was buried in Walton Cemetery back in 1949.
“He was living in Walton in 1937, possibly having a newsagents.
“I visited and after a lot of searching, I found it. It could do with repairing.
“One of our and the Manchester United group’s objectives is to help restore headstones for players where appropriate.
In need of repair - the grave in Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex
“This has been done in the past with crowdfunding from our social media followers.
“Of course, we would never do anything without approaching the player’s family first.
“We would love to make contact to see if we can help restore his grave.”
Anyone with information about his surviving family is asked to contact the group at chelsea_graves1905@yahoo.com.
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