John Hickton (born 24 September 1944) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

as a striker for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, and in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

for

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

. He is noted for his prolific scoring for Middlesbrough between 1966 and 1976. Hickton was born in

Brimington Brimington is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. The population of the parish taken at the 2011 census was 8,788. The town of Staveley is to the east, and Hollingwood is nearby. The pari ...

, near Chesterfield in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. He started his career at

, and made his debut in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

on 7 March 1964 in a 2–2 draw away to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He went on to score 21 goals from 56 appearances, which caught the eye of

manager

Stan Anderson Stanley Anderson (27 February 1933 – 10 June 2018) was an English football player and manager. The only player ever to have played for and captained all the big 3 North-East teams, Sunderland, Newcastle and Middlesbrough. Playing career And ...

, who took Hickton to

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

in 1966. Hickton was a goalscoring legend at Middlesbrough where he scored 192 goals in 10 years at the club, making nearly 500 appearances. As of 2009, he ranked fourth in the club's all-time goalscorers list and third in terms of appearances, behind

George Camsell George Henry Camsell (27 November 1902 – 7 March 1966) was an English Association football, footballer who scored a club record 325 league goals in 419 games for Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough, and 18 goals in nine appearances for England ...

, George Elliott and

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

, and

Tim Williamson Reginald Garnet "Tim" Williamson (6 June 1884 – 1 August 1943) was an English football player who made 602 appearances as a goalkeeper for Middlesbrough, scoring two goals, as well as 7 appearances for England. Playing career While he was y ...

and Gordon Jones respectively.

References

External links

League stats
at Neil Brown's site
Stats and photo
at Sporting Heroes 1944 births Living people Footballers from Chesterfield English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Whitby Town F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers {{England-footy-forward-1940s-stub