Stanley Hanson (27 December 1915 – 24 November 1987) 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 played for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

for his whole professional career.

Career

Starting off as an amateur with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

he turned down

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 ...

to sign professional forms for Bolton in October 1935.Ponting, Ivan & Hugman, Barry; ''The Concise Post War History of Bolton Wanderers''; 1994, p.11. He did not make the goalkeepers shirt his own until the 1938–39 season and then his career was interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He returned to top-flight football and stayed playing with Bolton until he was nearly 40. He was Bolton's keeper in the '' Matthews' Cup Final''. When he retired from football he stayed with the club as coach of the reserve side as well as running the post office near

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

Personal life

Hanson was of Norwegian descent and had a brother, Alf, who also played for Liverpool as well as Chelsea. He served in the 53rd (Bolton) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, during the Second World War.

Honours

Bolton Wanderers *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1952–53

Career

Personal life

Honours

References

Further reading