Martin Joyce (24 January 1894 – 23 January 1960) was an English

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 made 181 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

playing for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and Durham City in the 1920s.

Life and career

Martin Joyce was born on 24 January 1894 in

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. The 2011 census area classed Hebburn and the Boldons as ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. He played football for the newly formed Durham City in the Northern Victory League, a competition designed to fill the half-season gap between the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the resumption of national football in 1919. Ahead of the 1919–20 season, he joined

North-Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

club Palmers (Jarrow)renamed

during the seasonwhere he spent two years. Joyce signed for

ahead of their debut season in the newly formed

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

. Mainly used as backup to the veteran Tommy Barbour in the

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

position in 1921–22, he established himself as first choice halfway through the following season. Displaced by Jack O'Donnell in 1924 before the latter's transfer to Everton, Joyce returned to play his part in the team that won the 1924–25 Third Division North title and gained promotion to the

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 ...

. A profile in the ''

Derby Daily Telegraph The ''Derby Telegraph'', formerly the ''Derby Evening Telegraph'', is a daily tabloid newspaper distributed in the Derby area of England. Stories produced by the ''Derby Telegraph'' team are published online under the Derbyshire Live brand. Hi ...

'' early in the 1925–26 season described him as "only of medium height and weight, but he takes his position well, and is very resourceful in recovering apparently lost positions", although his kicking "might be a little less erratic", and he had "come on by leaps and bounds" since joining the club. Joyce went through that season as Darlington's only ever-present player as they retained their Second Division status, and appeared regularly in 1926–27 as his team were relegated to the Northern Section, taking his six-year career total with Darlington to 166 Football League appearances. He was listed for transfer, twice failed to obtain a reduction in the fee, and in January 1928 signed for Durham City of the Third Division North, with whom he finished the season. The

1939 Register The National Registration Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 91) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament as an emergency measure at the start of the Second World War. The ac ...

records Joyce as a widower with three children of working age, living in Etal Crescent, Jarrow, and working as a labourer in the shipyards. He died in South Shields General Hospital on 23 January 1960 at the age of 65.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Martin 1894 births 1960 deaths Footballers from Jarrow English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Durham City A.F.C. players Jarrow F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen