Ron joined Chelsea in 1952 a few months after Ted Drake became manager, and was very much a ball playing defender in the mould of the teams that he later famously managed, most notoriously West Ham and England.
Born in 1921, he joined Chelsea as a boy and played for us during the Second World War, but when peace broke out he moved first to Bradford and then Brentford in order to experience first team football.
He played exactly half the games in the Championship season, 21 of 42, including the famous 5-6 defeat at home to Manchester United and the crucial 4-3 win away to Wolves.
But he lost his place to Stan Wicks and moved on to Fulham in February 1955. He still received a Championship medal though.
While with Chelsea he won one England B cap. In all he played 66 peacetime games. In recent years his health deteriorated and he did not attend the reunions of the 1954/5 team. But all the boys spoke very fondly of him, and he was a much valued member of the side.