Sydney Walter Hoar (28 November 1895 – May 1967) 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 ...

. Hoar was born in

Leagrave Leagrave is a former village and now a suburb of Luton, in the Borough of Luton, Luton district, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England, in the northwest of the town. The current council ward is roughly bounded by Vincent Road, Torqu ...

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, and joined local side

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

as a fifteen-year-old in 1911. He was a regular in the Hatters youth team up until the outbreak of

World War I 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 ...

, when he joined the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and served in the

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches res ...

of Northern France. After being gassed in an attack, he was invalided out of the war, and his football career looked in doubt. However, he managed to recover fully and returned to Luton Town after the end of the war, making himself known as a winger who could play on either flank. Hoar played over 150 league matches for Luton between 1919 and 1924, as they played in the Southern League and later the Third Division South. In late 1924, Hoar joined

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

for £3,000, making his debut against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on 29 November 1924, and went on to make nineteen appearances that season; he also had trials with

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

but never made it into the first team. By now, Hoar played more often on the right than the left, but the arrival of Joe Hulme put in 1926 forced him out of the Arsenal first team and he spent most of 1926-27 on the sidelines. However, Hoar forced himself back in the side towards the end of the season, taking over Sam Haden's spot on the left wing. Despite an injury in Arsenal's last game of that season, against

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 ...

, Hoar regained fitness in time to play in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

against Cardiff City; however he had a poor match and Arsenal lost 1-0 after a freak error by

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Dan Lewis. Hoar continued to be a regular on the Arsenal left wing for another season, missing only four games in 1927-28 and scoring nine times. But in the close season, Arsenal signed

Welsh international The Welsh International is an international badminton championship held in Wales since 1928 and is thereby one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. The tournament was halted during World War II and until 1956, between 1960 and 1966, ...

Charlie Jones, and Hoar played only six matches in 1928-29. He left Arsenal in September 1929 for

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

for a fee of £1,000. In all, he played 117 matches for Arsenal and scored 18 goals. Hoar was at Orient for a single season, before retiring in the summer of 1930. He died in 1967, at the age of 71.

Honours

Player

Arsenal *

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: 1926–27

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoar, Sid 1895 births 1967 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Luton Town F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Footballers from Luton British Army soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Bedfordshire 20th-century English sportsmen