George Hicks (footballer)

For other people named George Hicks, see George Hicks (disambiguation).

George Hicks
Personal information
Full name George Wolstenholme Hicks
Date of birth (1902-04-30)30 April 1902
Place of birth Salford, England
Date of death 21 February 1954(1954-02-21) (aged 51)
Place of death Worsley, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Outside left
Youth career
Salford Lads Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Clayton
19??–1923 Droylsden
1923–1928 Manchester City 123 (40)
1928–1932 Birmingham 76 (18)
1932 Manchester United 0 (0)
1932–1933 Bristol Rovers 0 (0)
1933 Swindon Town 4 (0)
1933–1934 Rotherham United 28 (6)
1934–19?? Manchester North End
Lancaster Town
CWS Vere Street Works
Droylsden
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

George Wolstenholme Hicks (30 April 1902 – 21 February 1954) was an English professional footballer who played as an outside left. He made 231 appearances in the Football League playing for Manchester City, Birmingham, Swindon Town and Rotherham United.[2]

Life and career

Hicks was born in Salford in 1902.[3] He played youth football with Salford Lads' Club before joining Manchester-based Clayton and then Droylsden, from where he signed for Manchester City in November 1923.[3][4][a] He played for City in the 1926 FA Cup Final and contributed to them winning the Second Division championship in the 1927–28 season.[6] He signed for First Division club Birmingham in October 1928, and scored 12 league goals in what remained of that season. Early in the 1930–31 season he sustained a serious knee injury.[5] Though he attempted a comeback twelve months later, playing and scoring against Blackpool in September 1931, that game marked the end of his Birmingham career.[7] He moved to Manchester United in January 1932,[5] but left for Bristol Rovers later that year without having featured for the first team. A further year later, again without playing League football,[2] he joined Swindon Town, for whom he played four matches[8] before moving to his last Football League club, Rotherham United, where he missed only three games in the remainder of the 1933–34 season.[6] He went on play non-league football for Manchester North End, Lancaster Town, CWS Vere Street Works, and a further spell with Droylsden.[3]

Hicks died in Worsley, Lancashire, on 21 February 1954 at the age of 51.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ Some older sources list him as a Manchester Central player before signing for Manchester City,[2][5] but that club was not formed until 1928, and their match programme from the 1928–29 season describes his move from Droylsden to Manchester City as part of a local football news feature, not as that of a former player.[4]

References

  1. ^ The Pilgrim (25 August 1924). "Ready for action: few changes in the First Division of the League. Manchester City". Athletic News. Manchester. p. 5.
  2. ^ a b c Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. ^ a b c "Player search: Hicks, GW (George)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Lines from all Quarters". Manchester Central Programme. Manchester Central F.C. 3 November 1928. p. 8.
  5. ^ a b c Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 97. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  6. ^ a b "A–Z Past Players (pre-1939)". Rotherham United F.C. Archived from the original (DOC) on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  7. ^ Matthews, p. 174.
  8. ^ "George Hicks". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk. Richard Banyard. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  9. ^ "Deaths". Manchester Evening News. 22 February 2022. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.