Stan Willemse

Who was Stan Willemse?

Stanley B "Stan" Willemse was an English footballer who played as a left-back in the Football League for Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea and Leyton Orient.

Born in Brighton, Willemse served in the Royal Marines during the Second World War, and began his football career with Brighton & Hove Albion before signing for Londoners Chelsea in 1949 for £6,000, a sum which helped fund rebuilding work at Brighton's Goldstone Ground. He earned a reputation as a hard-tackling defender whilst with the club, and formed the backbone of the team which won the League Championship in 1954–55, alongside the likes of Roy Bentley, Ken Armstrong, Eric Parsons and Derek Saunders, playing 39 games that season.

Willemse also featured in the representative London XI side which reached the final of the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He only remained at Chelsea for one more season after that, and signed for Leyton Orient in 1956.

When Chelsea won the title again in the 2004–05 season, Willemse and fellow 1955 title-winner Roy Bentley carried out the trophy at Stamford Bridge for it to be presented to captain John Terry. As of 2005, he was living in Brighton.