John William Kirton (18 July 1871 – 13 March 1939) 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 made 45 appearances in
the Football League playing for
Lincoln City and
Small Heath.
He played as an
outside left.
Kirton was born in
Hulme, which was then in
Lancashire. He played for
Glossop North End and Oldham County of
the Combination
The Combination was a league during the early days of English football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888–89 season for teams across the Northern England and the Midlands, and was wound up before completion. The second ...
before joining
Football League Second Division club
Lincoln City in May 1896. From then on, he changed club at the end of each season. With
Small Heath in the Second Division, he created many of
Walter Abbott's 19 goals in the
1897–98 season.
His next move was to
Swindon Town of the
Southern League,
then
First Division club
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 ...
, where he never achieved a first-team place. A return to Swindon
[ preceded a final move in the 1901 close season, this time to Millwall Athletic, also of the Southern League.][
He died in Kilburn, London, in 1939 at the age of 67.]
References
1871 births
1939 deaths
People from Hulme
English men's footballers
Men's association football wingers
Glossop North End A.F.C. players
Oldham County F.C. players
Lincoln City F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Sunderland A.F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
English Football League players
Southern Football League players
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