It is with sadness that Aston Villa Life is to announce the passing of former player Tony Hateley. Tony passed away yesterday, 1st February 2014 following a long illness. He was 72 years old.
The father of former England footballer Mark Hateley and grandfather of former Motherwell footballer Tom Hateley, Tony was a prolific goal scorer for Aston Villa, once scoring four second-half goals as Villa came from 5–1 down to draw 5–5 with Tottenham Hotspur, and his 86 goals in less than 150 games played a significant part in saving the club from relegation to the Second Division.
In October 1966, Chelsea’s offer of £100,000 for Tony was accepted and he moved to west London. Such was his importance to Villa, they were relegated at the end of the 1966-67 season.
Tony also spent time at Notts County, Chelsea, Liverpool, Coventry City, Birmingham City, Oldham Athletic & Boston Minutemen, retiring from the game, having scored almost 250 career goals. Despite such a prolific rate of scoring, Tony was never capped for England.
At the time of his retirement his combined transfer fees were a record for a single player in English football.
Rest in peace Tony, and our condolences go out to your family and friends at this difficult time.
The Author
