Player #349
From:
To:
Career Status:
1932-33
1946-47
Retired
Ernie Callaghan
Seasons Quick-View
1933-47 🕒 142 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 - | #349 |
Season :
1932-33 | 1933-34 | 1934-35 | 1935-36 | 1936-37 | 1937-38 | 1938-39 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 |
Age :
22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 35 | 36 |
Division :
D1 | D1 | D1 | D1 | D2 | D2 | D1 | FA | D1 |
Squad # :
# | # | # | # | # | # | # | # | # |
Appearances :
5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 47 | 45 | 4 | 11 |
Starts :
5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 47 | 45 | 4 | 11 |
Substitute :
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unused :
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goals :
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Assists :
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Involvements :
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Games / Goal :
Bookings :
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sendings Off :
- | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
FAC: FA Cup; FL: Football League; D1: Division 1; D2: Division 2; D3: Division 3; PL: Premier League; CH: Championship
Ernest Callaghan BEM
Birth Date
21 January 1910
Birth Place
Newtown, Birmingham
Birth Country
England
🏴
Citizenship
🏴
England
Villa Youth
n/a
Previous Teams (incl. Youth)
Dartmouth Council School
Barton Arms
Rose Villa
Walmer Athletic
Hinckley Athletic
Cradley Heath
Atherstone Town
Original Transfer
Aged
22
From
Atherstone Town
For
Free
On
September 1932
Under
Billy Smith
Returning Transfer 1
Aged
n/a
From
n/a
For
n/a
On
n/a
Under
n/a
Returning Transfer 2
Aged
n/a
From
n/a
For
n/a
On
n/a
Under
n/a
Transfer Notes
Loans Out
None
Transfer Out 1
Aged
To
For
On
Under
37
Retired
Released
1947
Alex Massie 🏴
Transfer Out 2
Aged
To
For
On
Under
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Transfer Out 3
Aged
To
For
On
Under
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Subsequent Clubs
Retired
Died
8 March 1972, Aged 64
Ernie Callaghan
Villa Career
1933-47 🕒 142 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 - | #349 |
🕒 Games | Starts (Subs) | ⚽ Goals | 🔥 Assists | 🇺 Unused | Player Number |
Played Under
Billy Smith 🏴
Jimmy McMullan 🏴
Jimmy Hogan 🏴
Alex Massie 🏴
Promoted to First Team Squad
In
18 January 1933
Under
Billy Smith 🏴
First Squad
18 January 1933
Manager
Billy Smith 🏴
Debut
Season
Date
Match
Age
Manager
1932-33
18 January 1933
Bradford City (h), FA Cup
22
Billy Smith 🏴
Final Appearance
Season
Date
Match
Aged
Manager
1946-47
12 April 1947
Grimsby Town (h), Division One
37
Alex Massie 🏴
Final Squad
12 April 1947
Manager
Alex Massie 🏴
Honours
Played for the Villa
Height
Foot
International Record
National Team
Not Selected
Years | Caps | Starts (Sub) | Goals |
Not Selected
Caps with Villa
Ernie Callaghan
Player #350 for Aston Villa, Ernest Callaghan, known as Ernie Callaghan, and nicknamed Mush, played as a right back for the club. Ernie played for Villa between 1932-33 and 1946-47 making 142 appearances.
Ernie was born in Newtown, less than 2 miles from Villa Park, on 21 January 1910 and made his debut appearance for Villa on the 18 January 1933 aged 25.
Villa had signed Ernie from Atherstone Town in September 1930 as a 20 year old and as well as having to wait 2 years for his debut in 1932-33 it was 1935-36 before he made appearances in double figures in a single season.
Sadly that was the season of Villa’s first ever relegation however second division football suited Ernie and he went on to make 40 appearances in Villa’s 2nd season in the second flight as they took the Championship and gained promotion back to Division One for the 1938-39 season
Prior to joining Villa, Ernie had played for Walmer Athletic in 1927, Hinckley United in 1928 and Atherstone Town in 1929 and on Villa’s return to the top flight in 1938-39, Ernie made 38 appearances, twice as many as he had made in the 4 seasons he had previously played in Division One.
Signed in 1930 from Atherstone Town, Ernie or Mush as he was widely known was still turning out for Villa post War and this natural centre half, alongside partner George Cummings, developed what became known as Villa’s offside trap, catching hundreds of opposing forwards and becoming a mainstay tactic of Villa’s play.
Ernie served Villa as both right-back and his more normal centre back position, and made his debut in the FA Cup replay against Bradford City at Villa Park in January 1933.
On the opposite flank, Ernie struck up an ideal partnership with the great Villa full-back George Cummings in the 1937-38 promotion season and on the way to their return to the top flight, a ‘Mush’ influenced Villa conceded just 35 goals in 42 league matches.
Like so many footballers of the era, Ernie’s career was interrupted by WW2 and the suspension of league football between 1939-40 and 1946-47 however he did reappear for Villa post war, making another 11 appearances. Although only 4 of those games came in the FA Cup which were the only professional fixtures of the campaign. Nevertheless Ernie became the then oldest player to ever turn out for Villa aged 39 and 86 days when he took the field for his final game on Saturday, 12 April 1947.
During WW2 Ernie served as a War Reserve constable in the Birmingham City Police Force and won a British Empire Medal for outstanding bravery after helping rescue workers buried under a rubble from an air raid over the city that hit the Gabriel’s Ltd factory on Coleshill Street, Birmingham.
Ernie was also a member of the legendary Villa team that refused to perform a Nazi salute on their famous 1938 tour of Germany.
Ernie’s contribution to Villa didn’t end on his retirement - he went on to become Villa’s groundskeeper, taking up residence in a house on site.
Ernie had played under the Billy Smith led Management Committee as well as Villa’s first manager proper Jimmy McMullan and his successors in the role, Jimmy Hogan and then Alex Massie.
Ernie passed away in Aston on 3 May 1972 aged 62."