Joseph John Maloney (26 January 1934 – 17 October 2006) was an English

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 ...

. A half-back, he had an 11-year career in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

, making 289 league and cup appearances. He graduated from a youth player at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to sign professional forms with the club in January 1951. He signed with Shrewsbury Town three years later, and helped the "Shrews" to win promotion out of the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1958–59. He transferred to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in June 1961, before moving on to Crewe Alexandra just two months later. He helped the "Railwaymen" to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1962–63, before he joined non-league outfit

Winsford United Winsford United Football Club are a football club based in Winsford, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1883 and are nicknamed ''The Blues''. The club is currently a member of the , with home matches played at The Barton Stadium. Thei ...

Career

Liverpool

Maloney started his career at

, coming through the junior ranks at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

to sign professional forms in January 1951. He took the place of

Bob Paisley Robert Paisley OBE (23 January 1919 – 14 February 1996) was an English professional football manager and player who played as a wing-half. He spent almost 50 years with Liverpool and is regarded, due to his achievements with the club, ...

when making his first team debut in a goalless draw at home to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in March 1953. He made a further eleven first team appearances as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, but could do little to prevent

Don Welsh Donald Welsh (25 February 1911 – 2 February 1990) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he played at inside left for Charlton Athletic and for England, winning the FA Cup with Charlton in 1946–47. Playing career Welsh j ...

's "Reds" from losing their First Division status at the end of the 1953–54 season.

Shrewsbury Town

Maloney signed with Shrewsbury Town in July 1954. He stayed with the "Shrews" for a further seven years, making 237 league appearances in the process. The club finished 16th in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

in 1954–55, before manager

Walter Rowley Walter James Rowley (14 April 1891 – 22 March 1976) was an English Association football, footballer around World War I and a Manager (association football), manager during and after World War II. He spent some 47 years playing and Coach (spor ...

took them to 13th in 1955–56 and ninth in 1956–57. They could only finish 17th in 1957–58 under the management of

Harry Potts Harold Potts (22 October 1920 – 16 January 1996) was an English football player and manager. As a player he won promotion with both Burnley and Everton, and both from Second Division. As Burnley manager, he guided them to the First Division ...

and then

Johnny Spuhler John Oswald Spuhler (18 September 1917 – 7 January 2007) was an English professional footballer. References * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spuhler, Johnny 1917 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Sunderland Men's association football forwards ...

, and so became founder members of the

. Arthur Rowley was then appointed as manager, and Shrewsbury won promotion to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1958–59 after securing the fourth and final automatic promotion place. They posted a third-place finish in 1959–60, missing out on a second successive promotion by just one place and seven points. They finished tenth in 1960–61.

Later career

Maloney joined

Norman Low Norman Harvey Low (23 March 1914 – 21 May 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the son of Scottish international footballer, Wilf Low. A central defender, he played for Newcastle United between 1931 and 1933, before a th ...

in June 1961 and played his only game for the club at Gay Meadow on 19 August 1961, in a 4–2 defeat to Shrewsbury. He was sold on to nearby Crewe Alexandra for a small fee just two days later. Under the stewardship of

Jimmy McGuigan James McGuigan (1 March 1924 – 30 March 1988) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Career Playing career McGuigan, who played as a wing half, played junior football with Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, before turning professi ...

, the "Railwaymen" finished tenth in the Fourth Division in 1961–62, before winning promotion with a third-place finish in 1962–63. After 26 league games at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...

he left the

to join

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

side

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Shrewsbury Town *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

fourth-place promotion: 1958–59 Crewe Alexandra *

third-place promotion: 1962–63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloney, Joe 1934 births 2006 deaths English footballers Footballers from Liverpool Association football defenders Association football wing halves Liverpool F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Winsford United F.C. players English Football League players