Pat Welton was an influential youth coach and spent a large part of the 1970s at Tottenham Hotspur, where he was one of Bill Nicholson's back-room team.
Beginning his playing days at his local Chislehurst club, Welton joined Leyton Orient as a goalkeeper in May 1949 straight from being a PE teacher at a school in Highbury and during the 1950s played more than 280 games for the Brisbane Road club (263 League appearances; 18 FA Cup appearances) as first choice for nearly six years, before moving to QPR in March 1958 for just three appearances before retiring from playing. During his time at Orient, he won the Division Three South title with the club and was an eevr-present when the O's got promoted to Division 1.
Was appointed as manager of St. Albans in January 1959, before taking charge at Clapton and Walthamstow Avenue, before, in the early 1960s, he managed/coached the England Youth team as they hosted a UEFA international tournament which England won, beating Northern Ireland 4-0 at Wembley in the 1963 final, with Pat Jennings in goal for the losing side and David Pleat having featured for England earlier in the competition.
When Pat was a coach at Leyton Orient, he was a member of a panel of lecturers visiting boys clubs and youth clubs with a non-party organisation called the Economic League. His lectures promoted the idea of team spirit and when he offered a glimpse behind the scenes of the professional game, this always went down well.
In the early 1960s managed/coached the England Youth team as they hosted a UEFA international tournament which England won, beating Northern Ireland 4-0 at Wembley in the 1963 final, with Pat Jennings in goal for the losing side and David Pleat having featured for England earlier in the competition. The team won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for Team of the Year.
A further appointment as a manager came his way with Corinthian Casuals and he was the football coach at Forest School in Woodford. Welton became the first full time Spurs youth team manager in August 1969 and was at the helm when the Youth team won the FA Youth Cup twice in the early 1970s. His impressive handling of the younger sides brought him to the attention of Keith Burkinshaw when he was manager and he promoted Pat to Reserve Team manager in 1974 and then to be his assistant between the years of 1976 and 1980.
Pat linked up with Burkinshaw again later that decade, when Keith was manager of the Bahrain national team.
Pat Welton died on 28th June 2010 after a battle with cancer.