John William Joyce (26 June 1877 – June 1956) 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, rugb ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for various clubs between 1898 and 1920. Throughout his career, he was known to supporters as "Tiny" in allusion to his size, being tall and weighing over .

Football career

Joyce was born in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

, Staffordshire and started his football career with his home-town club, Burton Pioneers, before spells with two clubs in neighbouring

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 ...

, Woodville and

Overseal Overseal is a village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, south of Swadlincote, west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and due south-southwest of Derby (16.5 miles by road). The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,450. Situated withi ...

Town. Whilst playing for Overseal Town, he was spotted by scouts from Southern League champions

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, for whom he was signed for a

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

of £80. Joyce, together with his Overseal teammate, Sid Cavendish, joined the "Saints" in May 1898 and made his debut against

Warmley Warmley is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Warmley is situated in between Bristol and Bath. It is a parish, with its own church, and has some minor landmarks, such as a World War One memorial the focus of Remembrance Services, an ...

in December 1898, but Warmley shortly afterwards withdrew from the league and their record was expunged. As a result, Joyce's "official" debut was delayed until 21 October 1899, in a 5–1 victory over

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. At Southampton, Joyce was an understudy to

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 ...

international

Jack Robinson Jack Robinson may refer to: Sportspeople *Jack Robinson (catcher) (1880–1921), American baseball player *Jack Robinson (footballer, born 1870) (1870–1931), England, Derby County and Southampton football goalkeeper * Jack Robinson (footballer, ...

and Robinson's form meant that Joyce's first-team opportunities were rare. Nonetheless, he was a useful goalkeeper to have in reserve and was able to use his bulk to punt the ball upfield further than any other contemporary goalkeeper. After seven Southern League appearances, in May 1900 Joyce moved to fellow Southern League club Millwall Athletic in search of regular first team football. After a season with Millwall, Joyce returned to his home-town to join the newly formed Burton United in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

in August 1901. After failing to break into the first-team at Burton, Joyce was transferred to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

of the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

in May 1902. At Blackburn, he vied for the No.1 shirt with Willie McIver but after making 14 appearances he returned to London in the spring of 1903. After a brief spell with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, he returned to

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 ...

in the summer where he was to remain for the next six years, before re-joining Spurs in 1909. In December 1905, he was briefly displaced as first-choice 'keeper by Jack Robinson, under whom he had played at Southampton. At

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

, Joyce was initially first-choice 'keeper, before losing his place to

Tommy Lunn Thomas Henry Lunn (9 July 1883 – 1960) was an English professional footballer who played for Brownhills Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, and Stockport County. Football career Lunn began his career with Brownhills Albion b ...

but by 1912, he had ousted Lunn and taken over as the regular "custodian". On 10 April 1914, Joyce scored from a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

against

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 ...

and followed this with another against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

in a friendly a month later. Joyce played a total of 113 first-team matches for the Spurs, with his career ending following the outbreak of

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 ...

. During the war, Joyce returned to

and after the war, following a brief spell with Gillingham, became assistant trainer and was briefly caretaker manager when Bob Hunter became ill in the 1930s.

References

External links

"The Name of the Game"
– Joyce's great-grandson

Mark Bostridge Mark Bostridge is a British writer and critic, known for his historical biographies. He was educated at Westminster School and read Modern History at St Anne's College, Oxford, from 1979 to 1984. At Oxford, he was awarded the Gladstone Memorial ...

on his great-grandfather from '' The Guardian'', 25 March 2006
Tiny Joyce fact fileMillwall Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, John 1877 births 1956 deaths Sportspeople from Burton upon Trent English footballers Association football goalkeepers Southampton F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Burton United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players