THE HOT CHESTNUT MAN

Well thanks to Craig who has nudged me into answering the question about the identification of Johnny Morris, who is not the hot chestnut man.....!! The footballer (and others) got a mention in my blog "Autumn Changes" which told a sorry tale of England losing to the ROI 0-2.

Craig will be too young to know what that's all about. Johnny Morris was named in the England team that lost to the Republic of Ireland on September 21st 1949, the first defeat for England in an international at home. I was sort of making the point that I didn't know some of the players picked, which might explain the defeat?
This is the hot chestnut man who told stories on BBC childrens' TV. He also hosted a Zoo programme.

Well, perhaps I should know about Johnny? Born near Manchester, he made his debut for United in 1946 and went on to Derby County and Leicester City in his career. Turning professional in 1941, he had been at Bolton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic, Wrexham and Everton as a "casual" during the war. He played in the 1948 FA Cup Final beating Stanley Matthews' Blackpool 4-2 and earned three caps, including the infamous defeat by the ROI, his debut. He lasted two more games for England.

Another unknown, Bert Mozley played for Derby County and appeared 297 times for the Rams between 1945-55, scoring 2 goals. He was a full back. Born on the 23rd September 1923, he is still alive and migrated to Canada.

Jess Pye (below) was a coal miner who signed for Notts County, but before he played a game, he was transferred to Wolves under the legendry Frank Buckley, the first football manager to become known for his use of statistics and strategy. On 31st August 1946 he scored a hat trick on his debut against Arsenal, not a bad return!
Stan Cullis took the Wolves to the 1949 FA Cup Final, which Wolves won 3-1 with Pye scoring two against Leicester City. In his down time, Pye went to Wisbech Town, coached and managed and then took a hotel in Blackpool in 1968. Pye played in the fateful ROI international, his one and only cap.

The final "unknown" (actually it shouldn't have been) was John Aston Senior, who started with Manchester United in 1946 and played 284 times scoring  30 goals. He won 17 England caps and also played in the 1948 Cup Final.

His son John Aston Jnr played for United between 1965-72 and was the star in United's European Cup victory over Benfica at Wembley in 1968. John Junior's son, Mark, played for the Independent Schools' FA and later taught in Manchester and helped coach in the Independent Schools' FA squad.  WATCH THIS SERIES OF CLIPS FROM THE 1968 FINAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtthI8WAX14