Joseph Bonson (19 June 1936 – 29 November 1991) 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 ...

who played for several clubs during the 1950s and 1960s.

Career

Bonson started his career at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, working his way through their youth ranks including playing in the 1954 FA Youth Cup Final, losing to Manchester United. He graduated to the first team and made his debut on 1 January 1957 in a 3–2 win at Sunderland, the first of 11 consecutive starts during which he scored 6 goals. However, due to a wealth of striking talent at the club, he was deemed surplus to requirements and sold to Cardiff City for £7,000 at the end of the season. He joined the Bluebirds as a replacement for Johnny Nicholls, who had left the club to join

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and made a goalscoring debut for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

in November 1957. He finished the season with 12 goals in a total of 25 appearances. During his time at Cardiff he formed two formidable strike partnerships with two

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

internationals, first with Ron Hewitt and then with

Derek Tapscott Derek Robert Tapscott (30 June 1932 – 12 June 2008) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward. Tapscott played for Barry Town, Arsenal, Cardiff City, Newport County, Cinderford Town, Haverfordwest County and Carmarthen ...

, after he joined the club from Arsenal. Bonsons's most prolific year came in the 1958–59 season when he scored 18 times for the club. At the end of the season he was transferred to Scunthorpe United in exchange for

Peter Donnelly Sir Peter James Donnelly (born 15 May 1959) is an Australian-British mathematician and Professor of Statistical Science at the University of Oxford, and the CEO of Genomics PLC. He is a specialist in applied probability and has made contrib ...

. Bonson went on to spend the rest of his career playing in the lower leagues of English football with spells at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

, Newport County, Brentford and Lincoln City. He died in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonson, Joe 1934 births 1991 deaths Footballers from Barnsley English men's footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards