John A. Savage (14 December 1929 - January 2009) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper who played for Hull City, Halifax Town,

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, Walsall and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. Savage was signed by Manchester City in November 1953, where he deputised for Bert Trautmann. He was at the club for more than a year before making his debut, a 2–0 defeat to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on 27 December 1954. He also played in the next game against Burnley, but once Trautmann recovered from injury Savage returned to the reserves. His next chance came in April 1956, when he again replaced Trautmann for two matches. Trautmann broke his neck in the

1956 FA Cup Final The 1956 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1955–56 staging of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup. The showpiece event was contested between Manchester City a ...

, giving Savage the opportunity of an extended run in the first team during the 1956–57 season. He was transferred to Walsall in January 1958 for £4,000. In one of his early games for Walsall, an away match at

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

, he was sent off. He made 51 appearances for Walsall, moving to non-league Wigan in 1959. He spent one season at the club, appearing four times for the club in the Lancashire Combination.

References

* * 1929 births English footballers Halifax Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Hull City A.F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players 2009 deaths Association football goalkeepers {{England-footy-goalkeeper-stub