John Ferguson Connor (born 25 July 1934 in

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, died 6 March 2010 in

Formby Formby is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under ...

) was a 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 lea ...

who played as a defender for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, Bristol City and

before becoming a coach at Everton.

Football career

Huddersfield Town

Connor (I miss you) signed for

in October 1952, aged 18, but due to National Service he could not commit to the club and sign professional forms until 1954. He made his first-team debut in February of that year in a 3–1 top-flight defeat by

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

at Leeds Road seen by 31,408. He made a total of 94 appearances for Huddersfield Town, scoring ten goals. The first of these was in a First Division game against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in September 1955. Connor was centre back for Huddersfield in the legendary 1957 Charlton Athletic v Huddersfield match where the visitors were 5–1 up with less than half an hour remaining yet lost 7–6. Huddersfield became the first, and still the only, team to score six goals in a professional football match and still be on the losing side.

Bristol City

Connor joined Bristol City in October 1960 in an exchange deal which brought Scottish striker John McCann to Huddersfield. He went on to play 408 times and score 10 goals for the club before retiring from professional football in 1971, making him their 13th top appearance maker.

Formby

Connor signed for

, his local non-league side, in September 1973, and ten weeks later was in the biggest game in the club's history, an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

first round tie against Oldham Athletic. He was a regular in the first team until he retired from playing at the end of the 1975–76 season, aged 41.

Everton

Moving into coaching, Connor became reserve team manager at Everton.

Death

He died in his adopted home town of Formby on 6 March 2010. His funeral was held in the town on 15 March.

References

External links

* 1934 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from Maryport Men's association football defenders English men's footballers English Football League players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Formby F.C. players Footballers from Cumbria 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1930s-stub