John Hickton (born 24 September 1944) is an English former 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 in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

as a striker for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and

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 ...

, and in the North American Soccer League for

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

. He is noted for his prolific scoring for Middlesbrough between 1966 and 1976. Hickton 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 paris ...

, near Chesterfield in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. He started his career at

, and made his debut in the Football League First Division on 7 March 1964 in a 2–2 draw away to Aston Villa. He went on to score 21 goals from 56 appearances, which caught the eye of

manager Stan Anderson, who took Hickton to

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

in 1966. Hickton was a goalscoring legend at Middlesbrough where he scored 192 goals in 10 years at the club, making nearly 500 appearances. As of 2009, he ranked fourth in the club's all-time goalscorers list and third in terms of appearances, behind

George Camsell George Henry Camsell (27 November 1902 – 7 March 1966) was an English footballer who scored a club record 325 league goals in 419 games for Middlesbrough, and 18 goals in nine appearances for England. His 59 goals in one season (1926–27) fo ...

, George Elliott and

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

, and Tim Williamson and Gordon Jones respectively.

References

External links

League stats
at Neil Brown's site
Stats and photo
at Sporting Heroes 1944 births Living people Footballers from Chesterfield English footballers Association football forwards Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Whitby Town F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers {{England-footy-forward-1940s-stub