James Charles "Joe" Lane (11 July 1892 – February 1959) 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 as a forward. After spells with Hungarian club

Ferencváros Ferencváros () is the 9th district of Budapest ( hu, Budapest IX. kerülete), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The development of Fe ...

and English side Sunderland, Lane signed for another English club, Blackpool, in 1913 for £400. He made his debut for the club on 22 November 1913, in a 2–2 draw at home to

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club was ...

, scoring one of Blackpool's goals. He went on to make a further 25 appearances during the 1913–14 campaign, scoring ten more goals. The following season, 1914–15, he was an ever-present in Blackpool's 38 league games and one

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie. He scored 28 goals, including two

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

: one in the second league game of the season, a 3–1 victory at

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

on 5 September 1914, and all of the goals in Blackpool's victory against Glossop at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

on 21 November. Despite Lane's goal haul, Blackpool still only managed a tenth-placed finish after losing almost as many games as they won. In 1915–16,

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

intervened, leading to the implementation of regional competitions. Lane served in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

with the Hertfordshire Yeomanry during the conflict. When the Football League resumed in 1919–20, with Blackpool's new manager, Bill Norman, in his second season in charge, Lane continued where he had left off, netting 26 goals in 30 league appearances. He scored one hat-trick, in a 6–0 whitewash of Lincoln City at Bloomfield Road on 8 September 1919. He left Blackpool with two months of the season remaining, joining

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. ...

for a Blackpool club-record fee of £3,600. After a spell at

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, he finished his playing career with Watford Printing when he was in his 40s. He went on to coach at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

for a period. Lane died in

Abbots Langley Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and was ...

in February 1959, aged 66.

References

External links

Sunderland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Joe 1892 births 1959 deaths English men's footballers Watford F.C. players Ferencvárosi TC footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Men's association football forwards British Army personnel of World War I Hertfordshire Yeomanry soldiers Footballers from Hereford Association football coaches FC Barcelona non-playing staff