George Geoffrey Hickson (born 26 September 1939) is an English former

football goalkeeper Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

. He won

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

with Crewe in 1962–63. He is one of six post-

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

players to have played for both the Potteries clubs as well as Crewe Alexandra.

Career

Hickson was born in

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

and played as an amateur for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

, before signing a professional

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to ...

in 1959. Long time regular Bill Robertson sustained an injury in the 1959–60 season, and Hickson was drafted in to provide cover. He played ten

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

matches in December through to March but was dropped after conceding five away at

and

Tommy Younger Thomas Younger (10 April 1930 – 13 January 1984) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Hibernian, Liverpool, Falkirk, Leeds United, Stoke City and the Scotland national team. Career Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Younger si ...

took his place for the remainder of the season. He played just once more for Stoke, on the final day of the 1960–61 season in a 3–1 win over Liverpool at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. He joined his hometown club

in 1962, and played 43 of the club's 46

games as

was achieved in 1962–63. He then featured 30 times in the 1963–64 season, as

Jimmy McGuigan James McGuigan (1 March 1924 – 30 March 1988) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Career Playing career McGuigan, who played as a wing half, played junior football with Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, before turning professi ...

's "Railwaymen" were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

straight back out of the Third Division. He lost his place at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History C ...

under new boss

Ernie Tagg Ernie Tagg (15 November 1917 – 29 November 2006) was an English professional football player and manager, particularly associated with Crewe Alexandra. Playing career A promising schoolboy player who represented the Cheshire county side and ha ...

, and featured just nine times in the 1966–67 campaign and was completely absent in the 1965–66 and 1967–68 campaigns. He was

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

ed to Fourth Division side

in August 1968, as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Gordon Lee Gordon Lee may refer to: *Gordon Lee (comic store owner) (1958–2013), American comic book store owner charged with distributing obscene materials *Gordon Lee (congressman) (1859–1927), U.S. congressman from Georgia *Gordon Lee (footballer) (193 ...

needed cover for the injured

Stuart Sharratt Stuart Edgar Sharratt (born 26 February 1942) is an English former football goalkeeper who made 152 league and cup appearances for Port Vale between 1966 and 1972. He previously played for West Bromwich Albion, Nantwich Town, and Oswestry Tow ...

. Described as a "part-time, pipe-smoking civil servant", he featured for the "Valiants" in the next twenty matches, but was recalled by Crewe in November that year. He later played for

, and played three Third Division games for the "Sandgrounders". He also had a loan spell with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

, but did not take to the field at

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was the home ground of Shrewsbury Town football club in Shropshire, England. Just outside the town centre, on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League season and ...

. He later emigrated to South Africa to play for

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a Hood (headgear), hood in t ...

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name i ...

third-place promotion: 1962–63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hickson, George 1939 births Living people Footballers from Crewe English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Coventry City F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Southport F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English emigrants to South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Cape Town City F.C. (NFL) players English Football League players National Football League (South Africa) players