John Kirkby (29 November 1929 – 4 April 1953) was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played in the Football League for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and Wrexham.

Career

Kirkby became Stoke City's first overseas player, having been born in the United States, when he played his only game for Stoke against Middlesbrough in April 1949. He joined Wrexham in 1951. In a

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 ...

match versus Crewe Alexandra Reserves on 4 April 1953, Kirkby collapsed in the 65th minute and was declared dead upon arrival in the hospital.

Career statistics

Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkby, John 1929 births 1953 deaths American men's soccer players Stoke City F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders Association football players who died while playing Sport deaths in Wales American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in England