Adolph Jonathan "Alf" Hanson (27 July 1912 – October 1993) was a
football player for
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
,
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
,
South Liverpool,
Shelbourne,
Ellesmere Port Town and
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
.
Life and playing career
Born
Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, Hanson played for
Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...
before he signed for
George Patterson's Liverpool in November 1931, he didn't make his debut until 21 January 1933 in a
1st Division match at
Villa Park
Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...
, in wasn't the most auspicious of debut's for Hanson as Liverpool were humbled by a 5–2 scoreline, Alf scored his first goal 11 days later in his second appearance in a red shirt, the date was the 1 February and it was in a league game at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...
,
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
were the visitors and took the spoils with a 3–1 victory.
Hanson took his time making a name for himself at Liverpool but eventually broke into the first team, it took him just 4 games to forever cement his name into Anfield folklore, he scored his first hat-trick, however, it was the opponents for the day that were the reason for his fame, they were
derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...
rivals
Everton, the whole game was one to remember for the red half of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
as the Reds won the game 7–4, it was all the more bitter for Everton who had given Alf an outing in an A team fixture but never took up the option of signing him.
Hanson, a ship's plumber by trade, knew where the goal was, considering he was an
outside left
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
, scoring a goal every 3.4 matches, not bad when a
centre forward is happy if he can score 1 in every 3. He eventually ended up with 52 in 177 appearances in the famous red shirt. Although Alf had an eye for goal he's main talent was the ability to send over pinpoint crosses for one of Liverpool's famous centre forwards
Gordon Hodgson
Gordon Hodgson (16 April 1904 – 14 June 1951) was a professional sportsman, born in Transvaal Colony, who is best known as a striker for Liverpool and as a fast bowler for Lancashire. He won two international caps for South Africa and three ...
.
Alf's brother
Stan was the goalkeeper for
Bolton Wanderers when the two sides met at Anfield on 23 April 1938, the two brothers were made their teams respective
captains with Alf coming out on top in a 2–1 victory for Liverpool with goals in the fourth and seventh minutes from
Jack Balmer
John Balmer (6 February 1916 — 25 December 1984) was an English footballer who played as a striker for English club Liverpool.
Life and playing career
Born in West Derby, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, Balmer played for Collegiate Old Boys ...
and
Phil Taylor respectively.
A columnist from the
Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...
newspaper once wrote of Hanson "A slip of a lad he was not entirely a one-footed player but it was that left boot which put fear into the hearts of goalkeepers when they saw Alf prancing down the wing."
Alf left Liverpool in the summer of 1938 for the sum of £7,500 although he did 'guest' for Liverpool again in a wartime match. Other clubs he guested for during World War II included
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
,
Chester,
Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers,
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
,
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
,
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
and
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Iris ...
.
Hanson eventually entered into management taking on the role of player/manager for South Liverpool, Shelbourne and Ellemere Port Town.
His one season at
Shelbourne he finished as joint top scorer in the
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...
.
Alf's only
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
appearance came in a wartime international on 8 February 1941 against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
whilst he was contracted to Chelsea, the game was at
St James' Park
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.
St James' Pa ...
and ended in a 3–2 win to the Scots, Hanson did, however, play regularly for the England baseball team.
Alf Hanson died in 1993 aged 81.
Honours
Individual
*
League of Ireland Top Scorer
A list of League of Ireland top scorers.
A Division
;Notes
Premier Division
First Division
;Notes
All–Time
;Notes
References
{{League of Ireland
Top
Ireland
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulst ...
:
1946–47
Career details
* Liverpool F.C (1931–1938) – 177 appearances, 50 goals
* Chelsea F.C (1938–1946) – 45 appearances, 9 goals
* Shelbourne F.C. (1946–1947) – 13 appearances, 11 goals
* England (1941) 1 wartime cap
External links
Official player profile at Liverpoolfc.tvPlayer profile at LFChistory.net
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Alf
1912 births
1993 deaths
Sportspeople from Bootle
English footballers
Association football wingers
Liverpool F.C. players
Chelsea F.C. players
Shelbourne F.C. players
Gloucester City A.F.C. players
South Liverpool F.C. players
Ellesmere Port Town F.C. players
English Football League players
League of Ireland players
Liverpool F.C. wartime guest players
Wrexham F.C. wartime guest players
Chester City F.C. wartime guest players
Manchester City F.C. wartime guest players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. wartime guest players
Rochdale A.F.C. wartime guest players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. wartime guest players
Tranmere Rovers F.C. wartime guest players
Southport F.C. wartime guest players
England wartime international footballers
English expatriate footballers
English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland
Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland
Association football player-managers
English football managers
Shelbourne F.C. managers
Ellesmere Port Town F.C. managers
League of Ireland managers
English expatriate football managers
Expatriate football managers in the Republic of Ireland