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Gerry
Hitchens |
Aston Villa FC,
FC Internazionale Milano
7 appearances, 5 goals (1
on debut)
P 7 W 4 D 0 L 3 F 19:
A 6
57% successful
1956-62
captain: none
minutes played: 630 |
|
 |
|
Timeline |
| |
Gerald Archibald Hitchens |
|
Birth |
8 October 1934 in Rawnsley, Staffordshire [registered in
Cannock, December 1934]. Brought up in Highley, between
Kidderminister and Bridgnorth in Shropshire. Attended Highley Council
School |
|
Marriage |
to Meriel R.
Jones
[registered in Pontypridd, Glamorganshire, December 1958]. |
|
Death |
13
April 1983 in Hope, Clwyd, aged
48 years 187 days
[registered in Wrexham Maelor, Denbighshire, June 1983]. |
|
|
Died following a
heart-attack, playing in a charity football match. He was playing for a
Mold-based firm of solictors in Castell Alun sports ground in Fagl Lane,
Hope. Seconds after heading a cross over the bar, Gerry collapsed to the
ground. He was taken to Wrexham General Hospital but pronounced dead on
arrival. Cremated, and ashes buried in his hometown of Holywell in
Flintshire on 20 April 1983. Living at Holway House on the Carmel Road,
Carmel, Gorsedd, at the time of his untimely death. |
|
Source |
 Douglas Lammings' An
English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & |
|
Biographies |
The
Gerry Hitchens Story: From Mine to Milan - Simon Goodyear
(Breedon Books Publishing, 2009) |
| |
x.
- A Football Compendium, Peter J. Seddon (1999). |
|
Club Career |
|
Club(s) |
Hitchens was a coal miner, playing for Highley Youth Club and then
Highley Miners Welfare between 1952 and 1953. It was when he was
appearing in a county cup final for the Miners that Hitchens earned
his first professional contract. The final was being held at
Aggborough, the home stadium of local professional club
Kidderminster Harriers FC. His performance was being
watched by the then club secretary, Ted Gamson, who went on to offer a
contract. After several seasons in the reserve team, Hitchens only
played fourteen times for the first team, scoring six goals,
he was sold to Cardiff City FC on 25 January 1955 for £1,000, despite
alleged interest from West Bromwich Albion FC and Aston Villa FC.
After three seasons (95 league appearances and forty goals),
Hitchens did join Aston Villa FC, for £22,500 in December 1957
(78 goals in 132 league appearances), which attracted
the attention of leading Italian club, FC Internazionale Milano, that
and the fact he scored twice against Italy for England in Rome, and he
joined Milan in June 1961 for £80,000 (39 league appearances,
seventeen goals), was not enough to keep him longer than
seventeen months, and he was sold to Torino FC in November 1962 in a
player exchange
(89 league appearances, 28 goals). He then joined
Atalanta BC in June 1965
(58 league appearances, ten goals) and Casteddu in 1967
(nineteen
league appearances, four goals), after spending a short
period on loan to the NASL with Chicago Mustang, also in 1967.
Hitchens returned to England in November 1969 when he signed for
Worcester City FC, playing 51 times, scoring 25. He
joined Merthyr Tydfil FC, played six times before
retiring on 15 April 1971.
|
|
Club honours |
Welsh
Cup winners 1955-56; Football League
Division Two winners 1959-60; Serie A Champions
1962-63; Coppa Italia runners-up 1962-63, 1963-64; |
|
Individual honours |
Football
League (one appearance)
Midlands' Footballer of the
Year 1960-61; |
|
Distinctions |
x |
|
Height/Weight |
5'
10½", 12st.
2lbs [1960]. |
|
Source |
Douglas Lammings' An English
Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990]. |
|
England Career |
|
Player number |
795th
player to appear for England. |
|
Position(s) |
Centre-forward |
|
First match |
No. 347,
10 May 1961, England 8
Mexico 0,
a friendly match at
Empire Stadium, Wembley, London, aged 26 years
214 days.
 |
|
Last match |
No. 362,
10 June 1962, Brazil 3
England 1,
a World Cup Finals quarter-final match at Estádio
Municipal, Viña del Mar, aged 27 years 245 days.
|
|
Major tournaments |
World Cup
Finals 1962; |
|
Team honours |
x |
|
Individual honours |
England B
(reserve, 1956)
England U23
(one appearance, one goal, 1956) |
|
Distinctions |
Died sixteen
days after Tommy Graham |
|
Beyond England |
|
Hanging up his boots in 1971, Gerry was able to concentrate
more on his two main hobbies - golf and dog breeding. Refusing the
temptation to get involved in football coaching or management, he had a
spell managing an ironworks in Pontypridd before moving north to Holywell
in 1977 to run his brother-in-law's timber suppliers, near Prestatyn. -
An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who.
Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.130-131./The Gerry Hitchens Story
|
|
The Numbers |
|
parties |
Appearances |
comp. apps |
minutes |
Goals |
goals ave.min |
comp. goals |
captain |
| - |
7 |
2 |
630 |
5 |
126
min |
1 |
none |
|
minutes are an approximation, due to the fact that many matches rarely stick to exactly ninety minutes long, allowing time for injuries and errors. |
|
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS
|
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
7 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
21 |
11 |
+10 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1.571 |
57.1 |
+1 |
Venue Record
|
Venue |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS
|
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
Home |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
1 |
+10 |
0 |
1 |
5.50 |
0.50 |
100.0 |
+2 |
|
Away |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
+3 |
0 |
1 |
2.667 |
1.667 |
66.7 |
+1 |
|
Neutral |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
1.00 |
2.50 |
00.0 |
-2 |
Shirt Record
|
Colour |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS
|
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
White |
5 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
16 |
8 |
+8 |
0 |
1 |
3.20 |
1.60 |
60.0 |
+1 |
|
Red |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
3 |
+2 |
0 |
1 |
2.50 |
1.50 |
50.0 |
=0 |
Competition Record
|
Competition |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
WCP
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
=0 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
00.0 |
=0 |
|
WCF |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
1.00 |
2.50 |
00.0 |
-2 |
| World Cup |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
1.00 |
2.50 |
00.0 |
-2 |
| Friendly |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
19 |
6 |
+13 |
0 |
2 |
3.80 |
1.20 |
80.0 |
+3 |
Tournament Record
|
World Cup Final Tournament |
|
Type |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
WCF 1962 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
1.00 |
2.50 |
00.0 |
-2 |
|
WCF
All |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
1.00 |
2.50 |
00.0 |
-2 |
|
All Competition |
|
Type |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
FTS |
CS |
FAv |
AAv |
Pts% |
W/L |
|
WC |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
1.00 |
2.50 |
00.0 |
-2 |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2.5 |
0 |
-2 |
Match History
|
apps |
match |
pic |
match details |
comp |
res. |
rundown |
shirt |
|
Gerry Hitchin was a member of the last of the Winter 1960 get-togethers,
at
Upton Park on 13-15 March 1961. |
|
|
England
Football Online