Climbing the Chelsea Hil: Biography of Ken Shellito

by Nick Atkinson

Overview

Climbing the Chelsea Hill is the gripping story of Ken Shellito, the first and only Chelsea manager to enter the job after rising through the ranks at Stamford Bridge. After joining as ground staff at 15, he turned professional in 1957. He played 123 senior games as a full-back and won England honours before a knee injury ended his playing career at age 23. Undeterred, he joined the coaching staff and became first-team manager of Chelsea after 22 years at the club. Later, Ken left the UK to coach and manage in his new home of Malaysia. Sadly, he died there aged 78, in 2018. In this authorised biography, Ken lays bare all the highs and lows of his unique footballing journey. His anecdotes - some harrowing, others hilarious - shine a light on an era when football was all about the teams, their fans and the camaraderie among players. It paints a fascinating portrait of how the game was played at the start of Ken's career and how it evolved into today's commercialised era of glitz and glamour.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785316807
Publisher:	Pitch Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	12/01/2020
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Stephen Davies is a British children's author. He lived in Burkina Faso in Africa from 2001 to 2014 and since then has lived in Battersea, London. He also writes historical fiction. His bestselling book is Survivor: Titanic.

Table of Contents

Preface 7

Foreword I 9

Foreword II 11

Foreword III 13

Foreword IV 15

Introduction 17

1 The early days 19

2 Home is where the heart is 29

3 The home life 33

4 There was nothing like Christmas 36

5 Remember, remember the fifth of November 39

6 My first love 42

7 Back to school… sort of! 45

8 And romancing 51

9 The beautiful game 54

10 The bottom of the Chelsea hill 56

11 A working life begins 58

12 Sun, rain… and snow 61

13 About halfway up 67

14 No more cleaning boots 70

15 Our first car 73

16 One big family and my second home 77

17 Time for a change 81

18 The way things were 84

19 For the love of the game 86

20 One of my proudest moments 89

21 Back at the top 93

22 Firm but fair 95

23 Damn, that hurt! 98

24 Something to smile about 104

25 The Hill just got steeper 106

26 The coin finally drops 108

27 Something positive from it all 110

28 Back with my other family: Chelsea 112

29 Some proper family time 114

30 Juggling two families 116

31 What a great bunch of lads 119

32 The top of the Chelsea hill 121

33 All part of the game 126

34 QPR and Tommy 130

35 Tommy - one of a kind 136

36 They was good times at QPR 141

37 And on to Crystal Palace 143

38 Scouting around 147

39 Back with Tommy at Preston 150

40 Christmas at home… for once 153

41 The pub game 156

42 Cambridge United Football Club 159

43 The USA and their early days of soccer 162

44 Crystal Palace opens the door again 164

45 Back to what I love 166

46 The veterans' World Cup in Brazil 168

47 Home life hits back 170

48 Fate or just luck 173

49 Singapore called 174

50 And then so did Malaysia 175

51 Selangor Football Club 177

52 The first academy 179

53 And then to Kuala Lumpur FC 182

54 Perak Football Club 185

55 Always a funny old game 191

56 All about fitness… or is it? 194

57 Sabah called 198

58 Some things are just meant to be 203

59 Not just about winning 209

60 Feeding the talent 211

61 Yes coach 212

62 An old friend arrives 219

63 The next chapter unfolds 221

64 What a great bunch 224

65 Home is most definitely where the heart is 229

66 Chelsea with me once again… but just in name 234

67 A few more words 237

68 Sitting on top of my Chelsea hill 248

About Ken Shellito 250

About Nick Atkinson 252