Henry Spoors Oliver (16 February 1921 – 11 January 1994) 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 le ...

. He played at full back and centre half in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Hartlepools United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Har ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and Watford. He also played competitive football for Houghton Colliery Welfare and Canterbury City and represented England as a

schoolboy A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementary ...

Career

Born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, Oliver played for the England schoolboys team, as well as for Houghton Colliery Welfare. He joined

—then in the

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 ...

—as a 16-year-old, and turned professional shortly after his 17th birthday. However, he did not remain there for long; after only 9 league games Oliver transferred to Brentford, who at the time were in the First Division, in 1938 for a £1500 fee. Unfortunately for Oliver, the Football League was suspended in 1939 due to the Second World War, and did not resume until 1946. During this period he played guest wartime football for Leeds United and York City. In the first two seasons following the resumption of peacetime football, Oliver made 18 league appearances for Brentford. He transferred to Watford for a fee of £2,000 in May 1948, although

Benskins brewery Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery in Watford, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957. While Benskins has not existed as an independent company for over half a century, the brand continues to be well kno ...

paid the money on Watford's behalf. Under the management of

Eddie Hapgood Edris Albert "Eddie" Hapgood (24 September 1908 – 20 April 1973) was an English footballer, who captained both Arsenal and England during the 1930s. Playing career Hapgood was born in Bristol and started his footballing career in the mid-1920 ...

, Ron Gray and

Haydn Green Adrian "Haydn" Green (18 March 1887 – 8 February 1957) was an English football player and manager. After playing for Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Newport County and Reading, he went on to manage Ebbw Vale, Bangor, Hu ...

, Oliver made 122 Watford appearances in the Third Division South, and a further 6 in the FA Cup, scoring four

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. He joined Canterbury City at the end of the 1951–52 season, and remained there until his retirement in 1956. Oliver died in the city of his birth on 11 January 1994, aged 72.

Personal life

Oliver served in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Harry 1921 births 1994 deaths Footballers from Sunderland English men's footballers Hartlepool United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Watford F.C. players Canterbury City F.C. players Leeds United F.C. wartime guest players York City F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II Sunderland A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Men's association football wing halves Men's association football fullbacks