Chris Chilton along with Ken Wagstaff formed the most lethal strikeforce in City’s history,here is a carreer summary of the mighty ‘Chilo’
HULL CITY LEGENDS
Number 2
Chris Chilton.
Chris Chilton was born on the 25th June 1943 in Sproately just outside Hull.
He started playing football for local team Bilton Amateurs and it was through his involvement in the local leagues that he was spotted by the Hull City scouting set up.
In 1960 at the age of 17 he signed professional terms with the Tigers. He made his debut on the 20th August 1960 in a 4-0 defeat at Colchester Utd .
He went on to make a further 49 appearances for the tigers that season scoring 20 goals.
His talent was there for all to see but it was going to need some fine tuning, his second season at boothferry Park netted him 11 goals from 35 appearances.
By now he was starting to get himself noticed and he quickly became a thorn in the side of opposition defenders who would pick him out for ?extra special treatment?.
The next season saw Chilo score the first of what would become 12 hat tricks for the tigers. The following seson saw him go one better and score four in a game against Wrexham a feat he would repeat the following season in a 7-0 thrashing of Barnsley.
The 1964/1965 season proved to be the turning point for Chilton, with 26 games left to play in the campaign the Tigers secured the services of a certain Ken Wagstaff.
The two strikers hit it off instantly and in the remaining games scored 36 goals between them as the tigers came close to promotion.
The 65/66 saw Chilo score 25 league goals as the tigers won the Division 3 Championship and himself and Waggie made national headlines with there goalscoring exploits both in the league & Cup.
The remainder of Chilton?s career with the Tigers was played out in Division 2, the occasional flirtation with promotion being generated by his and Waggy?s ability to score goals aplenty but often scuppered by the defence?s ability to be equally as generous.
During this time Chilton gained his first representative honour, when selected to captain an F.A. XI against Guernsey. He marked the occasion by scoring a hat-trick and would play for the FA some three years later but such recognition was a scant reflection on his ability; he deserved better but never complained when he didn?t receive it.
By the end of the sixties injuries were starting to catch up with him and his absences from the first team became more frequent.In the 1970/71 season he scored his twelfth career hat trick in a televised 4-0 thrashing of Sunderland.
He finally got his chance in the top flight when at the start of the 71/72 season he signed for Coventry for a fee of just over £90,000. It would prove, in hindsight, to be good business for he only played a single season for them before a recurring back injury forced him to retire.
He returned to East Yorkshire as manager of Bridlington Town and also had a spell in South Africa
He returned to City during the late 70?s and early 80?s in various caretaker manager and coaching rolls and it was his knowledge that turned Billy Whitehurst into the goalscorer he became.
Chilo will always be remembered for his partnership with Waggy and between them they were the most lethal pairing City ever had,his scoring record is second to none, in 471 appearances for the tigers he scored 219 goals.The only downside was that like Waggy he never made the National Team, a fate which never seemed to bother him though.
Chilo was black and amber through and through and nobody did more for the cause than his good self.
