| Stan Machent | |
| Fullname: | Stanley Charles Machent[1] |
| Birth Date: | 23 March 1921 |
| Birth Place: | Chesterfield, England |
| Death Place: | Brimington, England |
| Position: | Inside Forward |
| Years1: | –1938 |
| Clubs1: | Chesterfield Ramblers |
| Years2: | 1938–1947 |
| Clubs2: | Sheffield United |
| Caps2: | 22 |
| Goals2: | 2 |
| Years3: | 1939 |
| Clubs3: | → Buxton (loan) |
| Years4: | 1947–1949 |
| Clubs4: | Chesterfield |
| Caps4: | 21 |
| Goals4: | 7 |
| Years5: | 1949–1951 |
| Clubs5: | Buxton |
| Years6: | 1951 |
| Clubs6: | Hereford United |
| Years7: | 1951–1954 |
| Clubs7: | Buxton |
| Totalcaps: | 43 |
| Totalgoals: | 9 |
Stanley Charles Machent (23 March 1921 – 17 December 2012) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward in the Football League for Sheffield United and Chesterfield and in non-League football for Buxton and Hereford United.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Machent left school at the age of fourteen, and was an apprentice builder before he started his career with local side Chesterfield Ramblers.[4] His form for the club alerted Chesterfield and Sheffield United, with Chesterfield offering him professional terms in 1938.[4] However, Sheffield United later offered him a better offer and he signed for the Blades.[4] In October 1939 he was loaned to Buxton, making his debut against Ashton National in a 4–3 win.[7] His early career at the club was cut short due to World War II and he played as a guest player for Chesterfield during the war.[4] He remained with United for nine years, making 22 appearances and scoring twice.[6] In November 1947 he joined Football League Second Division side Chesterfield for £6,000 plus Dick Culshaw.[4] Injury restricted him to just 17 games in his first season for the club, as he twice suffered a broken arm.[4] In the fourth game of the 1948–49 season he suffered a knee injury which kept him out for the rest of the campaign.[4] He was transfer-listed in 1949 and later dropped into non-league football re-joining Cheshire League side Buxton.[4] Whilst at Buxton he was part of the side that reached the third round of the FA Cup in 1951–52, beating Aldershot in the process.[4] In his second season for Buxton he scored an impressive 26 goals in 19 league games.[3] In July 1951 he signed for ambitious Southern League club Hereford United.[3] He struggled to compete for a place in the first team, only making two appearances and he mainly featured for the reserves.[3] He spent three months with the Bulls but left in October 1951 due to travel commitments.[3] He later returned to Buxton where he spent another three seasons.[3] From 1954 he served as player-coach to Chesterfield's 'A' side that competed in the Yorkshire League, before the team disbanded at the end of the 1954–55 campaign.[4]
His older brother, Arthur Machent, also played for Chesterfield in the 1930s.[4] During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force as a radio and radar operator with RAF Coastal Command, later becoming a warrant officer with No. 120 Squadron RAF, serving in Canada, Northern Ireland and The Bahamas.[2] After retiring from football he ran a shop in Chesterfield with his wife Vera, and later worked for the National Coal Board, and also as a maintenance joiner for the Derbyshire Health Authority.[2] He died on 17 December 2012 in Brimington, Derbyshire at the age of 91.[2]