Stan Willemse

{{short description|English footballer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Stan Willemse

| image = Stan Willemse (1955).png

| caption = Stan Willemse, May 1955

| fullname = Stanley Bernard Willemse

| birth_date = {{birth date|1924|8|23|df=y}}

| birth_place = Brighton, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2011|8|5|1924|8|23|df=y}}

| death_place = Brighton, England

| height =

| position = Left back

| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 =

| years1 = 1946–1949 | clubs1 = Brighton & Hove Albion | caps1 = 91 | goals1 = 3

| years2 = 1949–1956 | clubs2 = Chelsea | caps2 = 198 | goals2 = 2

| years3 = 1956–1958 | clubs3 = Leyton Orient | caps3 = 59 | goals3 = 2

}}

Stanley Bernard Willemse (23 August 1924 – 5 August 2011){{Hugman|21144|accessdate=3 August 2016}} was an English footballer who played as a left-back in the Football League for Brighton and Hove Albion, Chelsea and Leyton Orient.

Born in Brighton, Willemse served in the Royal Marines during the Second World War,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/4374647.stm |title=Champions of a different era |first=Charlie |last=Henderson |publisher=BBC Sport |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=3 November 2009}} and began his football career with Brighton & Hove Albion before signing for Londoners Chelsea in 1949 for £6,000, a sum which helped fund rebuilding work at Brighton's Goldstone Ground.{{cite news |url=http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premiership/chelsea/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/05/04/30/SOCCER_Chelsea_1955_Team.html&TEAMHD=chelsea&DIV=prem&TEAM=Chelsea&RH=&PREV_SEASON= |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605032939/http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premiership/chelsea/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer%2F05%2F04%2F30%2FSOCCER_Chelsea_1955_Team.html&TEAMHD=chelsea&DIV=prem&TEAM=Chelsea&RH=&PREV_SEASON= |archivedate=5 June 2011 |title=Chelsea's Class Of 1955 |first=Jamie |last=Gardner |work=Sporting Life |date=30 April 2005 |accessdate=3 November 2009 |url-status=dead }} 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 in 1954–55, alongside the likes of Roy Bentley, Ken Armstrong, Eric Parsons and Derek Saunders, playing 39 games that season.

Willemse also featured in the representative London XI side which reached the final of the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/stan-willemse-formidable-defender-who-helped-chelsea-to-their-first-league-title-in-195455-2344729.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/stan-willemse-formidable-defender-who-helped-chelsea-to-their-first-league-title-in-195455-2344729.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Stan Willemse: Formidable defender who helped Chelsea to their first League title in 1954/55|first=Ivan|last=Ponting|newspaper=The Independent |date=27 August 2011|accessdate=19 April 2014}} He only remained at Chelsea for one more season after that, and signed for Leyton Orient 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 for it to be presented to captain John Terry.{{cite web |url=http://www.chelseafc.com/matchday-live/match/27912 |title=Match Reports 07 May 2005, Chelsea 1 – Charlton |publisher=Chelsea F.C. |accessdate=19 April 2014}} As of 2005, he was living in Brighton.

Willemse died in Brighton on 5 August 2011 at the age of 86.{{cite web |url=http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/2410740 |title=STAN WILLEMSE 1924-2011 |publisher=Chelsea F.C. |accessdate=19 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131124124142/http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/2410740 |archivedate=24 November 2013 }}