James Hanson (6 November 1904 – 14 January 1960) was an English football

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Born in

Manchester 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 t ...

, he played for Bradford Parish Church in the Cheshire Amateur League early in his career. In December 1922, someone wrote in to the Manchester Football News, recommending Hanson to Manchester United. After trials in the 1923–24 season, he joined United in 1924. Hanson played his entire professional career with United. In a match against

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

on 25 December 1929, he suffered a broken

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...

, and the injury forced him to retire in 1931. During his United career, he scored 52 goals in 147 appearances. Hanson's long-awaited reappearance - and fourth appearance - finally came at Villa Park the following September and he did not disappoint, notching during a 2–2 draw against Aston Villa. His run of goals came to an end in the Manchester derby five days later, but he did make it five in six games by striking in a 6-1 thumping of Burnley.

References

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at MUFCInfo.com 1904 births Year of death missing Footballers from Manchester English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Manchester United F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub