John Hudson (11 October 1860 – 21 November 1941) was an English

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 half back. Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, Hudson played for hometown clubs

The 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 ...

and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

; he also represented

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 ...

at international level.

Career

Club career

Hudson played most of his club football in the

area, starting out with

Heeley Heeley is a former cluster of villages. Which all now form a suburb in the south of the City of Sheffield, England. The village has existed at least since 1343, its name deriving from ''Heah Leah'', ''High Lea'' then ''Hely'', meaning a high, w ...

before joining

. As a semi-professional Hudson played for a number of different teams in this period, as allowed by FA rules. He joined

in 1880, making his debut that December. While at Wednesday, Hudson made 16 appearances in the FA Cup, before the advent of

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 ...

. During his time with Wednesday, Hudson was briefly club secretary and a committee man. He left The Wednesday in 1885 after taking a benefit match and then spent a short time with

Blackburn Olympic Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

. Hudson answered the advertisement from new club

asking for players for their inaugural season and was one of the first individuals signed by the club. He played in the club's very first match in September 1889, a friendly against Nottingham Rangers and served as team captain during that first season, in which he was virtually ever present. The following year however he was plagued by injuries and made only six appearances, eventually retiring to take up a position of trainer at The Wednesday.

International career

He also earned one international cap for

in February 1883. In his solitary international appearance, he was appointed

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and led his country to a 7–0 victory over

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 ...

Personal life

In the 1881

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Hudson was described as a "German Silver Caster", and was living with his mother at School Lane, Sheffield. Following his retirement from playing Hudson became the licensee of the Castle Inn in Sheffield, and married Annie Mellor in September 1888. Hudson was the father in law of Sheffield Wednesday footballer Jimmy Spoors.

References

External links

*
Profile at EnglandFC.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, John 1860 births 1941 deaths Footballers from Sheffield English footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Heeley F.C. players Park Grange F.C. players Owlerton F.C. players Sheffield F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Walkley F.C. players Blackburn Olympic F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Midland Football League players