Henry Bentley Hancock (late 1874 – 1924) was an English professional

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 ...

. An inside left or centre forward, he played 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, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for Blackpool,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, but was also on the books of

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

and Manchester City.

Club career

Born in

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish; it is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6. Levenshulme is predominant ...

, Hancock began his career with Cheshire club Melrose, followed by a stint with Port Sunlight. After a spell with Stockport County, he joined Blackpool, then under the managership of club secretary Tom Barcroft. In his one season with "the Seasiders", in

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, he was the club's joint-top scorer in the League, alongside Jimmy Connor and an E. Francis, with six goals. Blackpool never lost when Hancock scored. He also scored three goals in that season's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, as Blackpool made it to the Third Round, to become the outright top scorer. In 1907, Hancock joined

. He scored seven goals in 27 League appearances for "the Latics". Later that year he signed for Manchester City but did not make any League appearances for them. He joined

in 1908, making two League appearances for "the Baggies". He finished his career with Brierley Hill Alliance in the West Midlands.

Club career

Further reading