Charles James Ambler was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who played as a goalkeeper

Goalkeeper (football)

In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

.

Born in Alverstoke

Alverstoke

Alverstoke is a parish in the borough of Gosport, Hampshire, England, that encompasses land stretching from Haslar to Stokes Bay. Alverstoke lies within half a mile of the shore of Stokes Bay and near the head of a creek which extends a mile westward from Portsmouth Harbour...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, Ambler began his career at Bostall Rovers before signing with Royal Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 (soon after renamed Woolwich Arsenal) in 1891. As an amateur he was able to play for a variety of clubs with no fixed tenure at any of them; in the period 1891–94, as well as playing in friendlies for Arsenal, he also played for Clapton

Clapton F.C.

Clapton F.C. is an English association football club, who play in Forest Gate, in the London Borough of Newham, England.Founded by W.R. Davis at a meeting in his father's house at 11 Queensdown Road, Clapton in August 0f 1877. Downs F.C. started playing on Hackney Downs. They changed their name a...

, Dartford

Dartford F.C.

Dartford F.C. are an English football club based in Dartford, Kent. After finishing as champions of the Isthmian League Division One North in the 2007–08 season, they compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They finished in 8th position in their first season...

 and Luton Town

Luton Town F.C.

Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...

 while nominally being registered an Arsenal player.

In the summer of 1894 he was formally transferred to Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

, but returned to Woolwich Arsenal in November 1895. There, he played in goal in a Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 match against Newton Heath

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 on 30 November 1895, a match Arsenal lost 5-1. With no other league appearances to his name, he left Arsenal in the summer of 1896 and returned to Tottenham Hotspur.

Ambler was registered with Spurs from 1896 until 1900; in total, in both his spells at Tottenham, he made 133 first team appearances. He had spells at Gravesend

Gravesend United F.C.

Gravesend United Football Club was a football club based in Gravesend, Kent.They were founder members of the Kent League in 1894-95 before moving to join the Southern League in 1896-97...

 and New Brompton

Gillingham F.C.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium...

 before, in 1901, he joined east London club West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

. Used as a reserve, he played just two first team games for the club in November 1901. The first came as a result of a clash of fixtures, with the Irons due to play a Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 game against Spurs on the same day as hosting Leyton

Leyton F.C.

Leyton Football Club are an English association football club based in Leyton, in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. As of January 2011, they are not in a senior league, after withdrawing from the Isthmian League Division One North...

 in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

. The club chose to field its regulars for the league game and play away for the cup; the first team lost 1-0 while the second side, with Ambler in goal, won by the same scoreline. Thus, Ambler got his chance in the following Southern League game, against Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

, but with the game ending in a 2-1 defeat, this was to be his only appearance in the league.

He went on to play for Millwall

Millwall F.C.

Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

after leaving the Irons in 1902. He died in 1952, aged 83