Albert Childs

Albert Childs, known throughout his football career as Bert, was born in Liverpool, England, on 25 September 1930. He grew up in the city and came through amateur football, playing for Northern Nomads, a leading amateur club in the north west, in the early 1950s.

Childs signed for Liverpool as an amateur in January 1952. In the autumn of 1953 he was given his chance in the First Division when he replaced the regular right-back Ray Lambert for two consecutive matches. His debut, at Anfield on 19 September 1953, was a 4-0 win over Burnley in which Louis Bimpson scored all four goals in the first half. A week later he kept his place for the visit to Charlton Athletic, where Liverpool lost heavily at The Valley. They were his only senior appearances for the club, and he left in 1954.

He was an England amateur international and moved on to Bishop Auckland, the dominant amateur club of the era, who won the FA Amateur Cup three years running from 1955 to 1957. Childs played left-back in the 1957 final at Wembley on 13 April, when Bishop Auckland beat Wycombe Wanderers 3-1. Like several of the Bishops' players he lived in the north west and travelled across the Pennines for matches. He later recalled being paid eight pounds plus expenses and said he was never on a losing side for the club. He went on to play for South Liverpool and Wigan Rovers.

Childs married a Frenchwoman. He explained that after she had put up with Liverpool for 25 years, it seemed only fair to go and live in France when he retired, and the couple settled near Nice. He kept in touch with his old Bishop Auckland team-mates and travelled back from France for reunions of the side.

Bert Childs died on 23 October 2026, aged 96. Liverpool Football Club announced his death the following day, describing him as the club's oldest surviving former player and sending condolences to his family and friends on behalf of everyone at the club. The cause of death was not made public.

Childs belonged to the last generation of players who moved between top-flight professional football and the great amateur clubs. His two games for Liverpool in 1953 and his FA Amateur Cup winner's medal with Bishop Auckland in 1957 linked him to two very different footballing traditions, and for his final years he was Liverpool's oldest living former player.