Stockport County Brittleton began his league career with Stockport County in 1902 as an inside forward. He went on to score ten goals in forty-five appearances for the
Lancashire club, and after County had played a game at
Ashton in December 1904, the referee sent a report to
Sheffield Wednesday recommending the player. Wednesday immediately sent a £200 bid to Stockport which was rejected. Undeterred,
the Owls improved their offer to a club record fee of £300, and Brittleton signed for the
Yorkshire club on 6 January 1905.
Sheffield Wednesday Brittleton made his debut for Wednesday on 14 January 1905, playing in the
inside right position in place of
Harry Chapman. During his early time at The
Owlerton Stadium, Brittleton played in most of the outfield positions before becoming established as a
wing-half and a long-term replacement for
Harry Ruddlesdin. culminating in the club's 2–1 victory against
Everton in the
final at
Crystal Palace. In 1911, Brittleton was invited to represent
the Football Association for a summer tour of South Africa. However, the player, once described as "the biggest home bird you could ever meet", He won four more international caps, and did not lose a game that he played for his country. In 1919, Wednesday allowed Brittleton to move back to
Winsford, although he continued to play for the club. He went on to make a total of 373 appearances for
the Owls in all competitions, scoring 33 goals in the process. His last match for Sheffield Wednesday was against
Oldham Athletic on 1 May 1920; aged 38 years and 8 days, Brittleton became the oldest man to play for
the Owls. Brittleton family folklore has it that he actually signed for Winsford before moving almost immediately to Stoke and that the
Cheshire club received a small transfer as part of the deal, however no records have been found to back up the claim. He joined Stoke at the age of 41 and many questioned as to Brittleton could still play a part in professional football. However, despite his advancing years he still commanded respect and was indeed able to play as through he was in his twenties. Due to his experience he was appointed player-coach at Stoke working alongside
Arthur Shallcross. He helped Stoke gain promotion to the First Division in
1921–22 but Stoke struggled the following season and Shalcross was sacked.
Jock Rutherford took over but soon left and Brittleton was given the opportunity to become manager but he rejected. Instead he carried on playing in the
1924–25 season playing in eight matches at the age of 45, a record not to be surpassed until
Stanley Matthews.
Return to Winsford After retiring from
League football Brittleton returned to his hometown to take up the position of player-manager at Winsford United whilst also working for
ICI. When he finally stopped playing, he became the landlord of the town's Navigation Inn. ==Personal life==