Joseph Payne (17 January 1914 – 22 April 1975) was an

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

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 ...

, best known as the scorer of 10 goals in a match for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

on 13 April 1936. This is still a record in

The 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 Engla ...

. Payne later played for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

and, after missing six years of his career to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

Playing career

Payne was born in

Brimington Brimington is a large village and civil parish in the Borough of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, England. The population of the parish taken at the 2011 census was 8,788. The town of Staveley is to the east, and Hollingwood is nearby. The parish in ...

Common near

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, and worked as a

coalminer Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

as a teenager. He was spotted playing as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for Bolsover Colliery and signed by

in 1934. There, he played mostly for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

as a half-back, and spent time on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Biggleswade Town Biggleswade Town Football Club is a football club based in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at Langford Road. History The club were established in 1874 as Biggleswade, later becoming known as ...

. Payne made his League debut for Luton on 29 December 1934, against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, and he made one further appearance during his initial season. The 1935–36 season saw Payne start four games as half-back, the last of which came on 21 September 1935 against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

, and he did not play for the club again until 13 April 1936, in a match against

. Due to injuries to Jack Ball and Bill Boyd, Payne was played at centre-forward and scored 10 goals, still a

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 Engla ...

record, in a 12–0 win. He received a £2 win bonus for the match, in addition to his £4 weekly wage. The following season, Payne scored a club record 55 goals in 39 matches as the Hatters won 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 ...

championship. In May 1937, he made his only appearance for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, scoring two goals in the 8–0 victory over

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

at the

Töölön Pallokenttä Töölön Pallokenttä (, ), also known by its nickname Bollis, is a football stadium in Helsinki, Finland. The stadium is located in the Töölö district and today it holds 4,000 spectators. Töölön Pallokenttä was originally built in 1915 ...

. In March 1938, he was bought by

for a large fee, reported as around £5,000. In September 1941, Payne was hospitalised with acute pneumonia. His career was interrupted by the

but he continued to be a prolific scorer in wartime competitions, and played once for hometown club

in an 8–0 win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in December 1944. In December 1946, Payne joined

, where he made 11 appearances in his single season with the club. He then joined

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, east ...

but he had been suffering from persistent ankle injuries and never made a League appearance.

Death and legacy

Payne died in Luton on 22 April 1975, aged 61. On 13 April 2006, to mark the 70th anniversary of his 10-goal record, a plaque was unveiled by Geoff Thompson, then chairman of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

, on the wall of the Miner's Arms public house in Manor Road, Brimington Common. The site is adjacent to the now-demolished house where he used to live, and overlooks a park where he played football. The unveiling was attended by two of Payne's nephews. A lounge at Kenilworth Road stadium was named in honour of Payne.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Joe 1914 births 1975 deaths People from Brimington Footballers from Derbyshire English footballers England international footballers Association football wing halves Association football forwards Bolsover Colliery F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Biggleswade Town F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. wartime guest players West Ham United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players English Football League players