John Kenneth Kirkham (13 May 1941 – 11 February 2021) was an English 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 as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Born in

Wednesbury Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of 3 ...

, Kirkham began his career with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in 1956, turning professional in 1958 and making his first team debut in 1959. He also played in the 1957–58 FA Youth Cup. He later played for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, Durban Spurs and Horwich RMI.

International career

He played for England at youth and under-23 levels.

Later life and death

He retired to South Africa but returned to England after the death of his wife, and lived in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

. He died on 11 February 2021, aged 79.

References

1941 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Wednesbury English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football wing halves Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Addington F.C. players Leigh Genesis F.C. players English Football League players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriates in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa {{England-footy-midfielder-1940s-stub