Stanley B "Stan" Willemse (23 August 1924 – 5 August 2011) was an English footballer who played as a left-back

Defender (association football)

Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

 in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 and Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient F.C.

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

.

Born in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, Willemse served in the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

 during the Second World War, and began his football career with Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....

 before signing for London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

ers Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 in 1949 for £6,000, a sum which helped fund rebuilding work at Brighton's Goldstone Ground

Goldstone Ground

The Goldstone Ground was a football stadium and home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. between 1902 and 1997. The club currently plays at American Express Community Stadium, a stadium on the outskirts of the city, following the move from their temporary stadium in the Brighton suburb of...

. He earned a reputation as a hard-tackling defender whilst with the club, and formed the backbone of the team which won the League Championship

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 in 1954–55, alongside the likes of Roy Bentley

Roy Bentley

Roy Thomas Frank Bentley is a retired English football player who played most notably for Chelsea and the England national side. He later became a manager...

, Ken Armstrong, Eric Parsons

Eric Parsons

Eric "Rabbit" Parsons was a footballer who played for West Ham United, Chelsea and Brentford.A winger and crowd favourite whose blistering pace earned him the nickname "the Rabbit", Parsons started his career with West Ham United, spotted by the club during a game against West Ham Boys at Upton...

 and Derek Saunders

Derek Saunders

Derek Saunders is a retired English footballer who played most notably for Chelsea during the 1950s.Born in Ware, Saunders played primarily as a wing-half and started his career with amateur side Walthamstow Avenue, who he captained in their 1952 FA Amateur Cup Final win...

, playing 39 games that season.

Willemse also featured in the representative London XI

London XI

The London XI was an association football representative team, specially created to take part in the 1955-58 edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the precursor of today's UEFA Europa League although not recognized by UEFA....

 side which reached the final of the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He only remained at Chelsea for one more season after that, and signed for Leyton Orient

Leyton Orient F.C.

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

 in 1956.

When Chelsea won the title again in the 2004–05 season, Willemse and fellow 1955 title-winner Roy Bentley carried out the trophy at Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge (stadium)

Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...

 for it to be presented to captain John Terry

John Terry

John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...

. As of 2005, he was living in Brighton.

On August 5 2011 he died at the age of 86.