John Kay (born 29 January 1964) is an English former

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 ...

. Kay started his career at

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

as an apprentice, joining in April 1980 and turning professional in July 1981. He made his League debut against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

on 26 February 1983 and went on to make a further seven appearances that season. He played another seven league matches in 1983-84 but in the 1984 close season he was given a free transfer. He moved to

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and spent three years there, including a brief loan period at

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 ...

. In 1987, he joined

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, and made over 200 appearances in eight years with the club (as well as a loan spell at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

) before finishing his career with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. He helped Sunderland reach the 1992 FA Cup Final but missed the game through injury. Kay is fondly remembered by

fans for his hard tackling and determination. After one particularly tough challenge on

Peter Haddock Peter Murray Haddock (born 9 December 1961) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League as a centre back or right back for Newcastle United, Burnley and Leeds United. Haddock was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and joined h ...

, a

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

player on 23 December 1990, the Leeds manager,

Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...

said that the player's leg "looks like it's been run over by a tractor". Kay earned the nickname "The Tractor" in reference to this comment. During his final game for Sunderland, against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in 1993, Kay broke his leg and instead of writhing in pain, he sat up on the stretcher and pretended to row it off the pitch.

References

John Kay's careers stats
at The Stat Cat {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, John 1964 births Living people English men's footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from County Durham