Henry Gilhespy Hamilton (1887–1938) 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 ...

who played as a

centre forward 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 ...

for various clubs in the 1900s and 1910s.

Playing career

He was born in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

and started his professional career in December 1908 with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

before moving to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

in April 1910. At Huddersfield he scored ten goals in sixteen league games, plus three in four

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 ...

matches; this prolific form attracted the attention of Southern League

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

's new manager George Swift. Swift was Southampton's first appointment as manager and promptly embarked on a spending spree, signing eleven players in six weeks. Hamilton was immediately drafted into the first team as centre-forward, making his debut on 2 September 1911 at home to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. He found the net fairly regularly during his one season at The Dell, scoring nine goals in 23 league appearances, thus becoming top-scorer for the 1911–12 season. He had problems settling in the south, however, and in March 1912 was suspended (along with Andrew Gibson) for a serious breach of club discipline, as a result of which he was placed on the transfer list. Following his departure Saints tried several players at centre forward including Cecil Christmas and

Leonard Dawe Leonard Sydney Dawe (3 November 1889 – 12 January 1963) was an English amateur footballer who played in the Southern League for Southampton between 1912 and 1913, and made one appearance for the England national amateur football team in 1912. ...

before finally settling on

Percy Prince Percy Prince (15 August 1887 – December 1973) was an English amateur footballer who played as a centre-forward for Southampton and Boscombe in the early 20th century. Football career Prince was born in Liverpool but was raised in Southampton ...

. He moved to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

to join

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for polit ...

where he spent a year before returning to his native north east where he played out his career with

. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he played no more professional football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Henry 1887 births 1938 deaths Footballers from South Shields English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Belfast Celtic F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Gateshead A.F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Craghead United F.C. players