Peter Aldis

Peter Aldis

Personal information
Full name	Basil Peter Aldis
Date of birth	(1927-04-11)11 April 1927
Place of birth	Kings Heath, England
Date of death	17 November 2008(2008-11-17) (aged 81)
Place of death	England
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
0000–1948	Hay Green
1948–1949	Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1949–1960	Aston Villa	262	(1)
1960–????	Hinckley Athletic
1964–1965	Slavia-Port Melbourne
1966	Ringwood-Wilhelmina
1967–1968	U.S.C. Lions
Managerial career
1968–????	Alvechurch
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Peter Aldis (11 April 1927 – 17 November 2008) was an English professional footballer who played at full-back and appeared in 294 games for Aston Villa in league and cup.

Football career

He worked for local chocolate firm Cadbury's before joining Aston Villa from local side Hay Green in November 1948. He turned professional the following January.[1][2]

He scored his only goal of his Aston Villa career in November 1952 against Sunderland, a header from 35 yards, with a world record until 4 October 2009. He was an integral member of Villa's 1957 FA Cup-winning team.[2][3] Aldis left Villa in 1960 to join Hinckley Athletic.

He moved to Melbourne, Australia in February 1964 to play in the Victorian State League with Slavia-Port Melbourne,[4] winning the Dockerty Cup in his first season with the club.[5] He transferred to Ringwood-Wilhelmina in 1966,[6] where he won the Argus Medal for the best player in the State League,[7] then moved to U.S.C. Lions the following season.[8]

In 1968 he was appointed player-manager of Alvechurch.[9]

Later life and death

In 1990, in his 60s, Aldis finished the London Marathon, raising money for St Richard's Hospital, Chichester.[3]

In his later years, Aldis suffered from dementia, which his wife Grace attributed to heading leather balls during his football career.[10][11][12] Aldis died on 17 November 2008.[13][14]

Honours

Aston Villa

• FA Cup: 1956–57[15]

Slavia-Port Melbourne

• Dockerty Cup: 1964, 1965[16][17]

Individual

• Argus Medal: 1966[18]

References

1. Obituary Archived 11 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Villa Cup great Aldis dies at 81". Birmingham Mail. 18 November 2008. p. 94.
3. Halford, Brian (20 October 2005). "Peter's day in the Villa sunshine". Birmingham Mail.
4. 1964 Victorian State League Results Victorian League Archive
5. 1964 Victorian Dockerty Cup Results Victorian League Archive
6. 1966 Victorian State League Results Victorian League Archive
7. Bill Fleming Medal Victorian League Archive
8. 1967 Victorian State League Results Victorian League Archive
9. Players Alvechurch F.C.
10. Malley, Paul (15 February 2004). "Villa cup here has brain illness". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham. ASTON Villa FA Cup hero Peter Aldis has become the latest soccer player to be struck down by a brain illness. Peter, 75, is suffering from dementia and his family believe the condition may be linked to the way he repeatedly headed oldstyle heavy footballs.
11. Aldis, Grace (14 April 2001). "Dignity deserved". The Times.
12. Johnson, Steve (15 February 2005). "Fight for soccer heroes - Brain illness claim". Birmingham Mail.
13. "Villa Cup winner Aldis dies at 81". BBC Sport. 17 November 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
14. "Peter Aldis". Chichester Observer. 20 November 2008.
15. Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack (1977). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1977–78. London: Brickfield Publications Ltd. p. 490. ISBN 0354 09018 6.
16. "Victorian Dockerty Cup 1964 Results". OzFootball. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
17. "1965 Dockerty Cup - Results". OzFootball. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
18. "Aldris, a soccer veteran". The Age. 16 September 1966. p. 28. Retrieved 25 September 2020.

External links

• Aston Villa Official Website
• BBC website