George Henry Holdcroft (23 January 1909 – 17 April 1983), also known as Harry Holdcroft, was an

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 ...

international football goalkeeper. He played for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, Everton, Accrington Stanley,

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, Oldham Athletic,

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Southport,

Leyland Motors Leyland Motors Limited (later known as the Leyland Motor Corporation) was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company diversified into car manufacturing with its acquisitions of Triumph and Rover in 1960 and 1 ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

and

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

. However it was for his seven years at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, from 1932 to 1939, that he became well known. He helped the club to win promotion out of the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1933–34, and kept goal as Preston lifted the

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 ...

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

. He also represented England twice in 1936.

Early and personal life

George Henry Holdcroft was born on 23 January 1909 in Norton le Moors, near Leek, Staffordshire. His parents were John Jabez and Annie, a coal mine loader and grocer respectively. He qualified as a heavy worker inspector of motor vehicle component parts. He married Phyllis Jack in 1933.

Club career

Holdcroft played for local clubs, Biddulph, Norton Druids and Whitfield Colliery before joining

as an amateur in August 1926, signing professional forms the following month. He only played ten

games for the Vale, six in 1926–27 and four in 1927–28, before being handed a free transfer to

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club

in May 1928. He was the firm first choice for the club and played more than 83 games in his three years at

Feethams Feethams is a cricket and former football grounds in Darlington, England. The cricket ground has hosted Durham CCC matches. The football ground was the home of Darlington F.C. for from 1883 to 2003 until the club moved into another ground, ...

. The club struggled at the foot of the table in 1928–29, before finishing third in 1929–30 and 11th in 1930–31. In 1931, he was signed by Everton of the First Division. The "Toffees" won the league title in 1931–32, however Holdcroft failed to get into the first team at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

and moved to

of the Second Division. He went on to play in 172 consecutive league and

matches for the "Lambs". A ninth-place finish in 1932–33 was followed by promotion in 1933–34. Top-flight football at Deepdale continued right up until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as Preston finished 11th in 1934–35, 7th in 1935–36, 14th in 1936–37, third in 1937–38 and ninth in 1938–39. Holdcroft also played in the

1938 FA Cup Final The 1938 FA Cup Final was contested by Preston North End and Huddersfield Town at Wembley Stadium. Preston, losing finalists the previous year, won by a single goal. This was their second win in the competition. Background After 29 minutes of e ...

victory over Huddersfield Town at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, keeping a clean sheet over 120 minutes in a 1–0 win. During the war he guested for Accrington Stanley,

, Oldham Athletic,

and Southport, and also played for non-league clubs

and

International career

Holdcroft was selected to play for

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 17 October 1936. The following month he won a second international cap against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Preston North End *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

second-place promotion: 1933–34 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holdcroft, George 1909 births 1983 deaths Footballers from Staffordshire English footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Port Vale F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Everton F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) wartime guest players Barnsley F.C. wartime guest players Burnley F.C. wartime guest players Bury F.C. wartime guest players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. wartime guest players Manchester United F.C. wartime guest players Southport F.C. wartime guest players Morecambe F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Leyland Motors F.C. players Stockport County F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players English Football League representative players FA Cup final players