John Patrick Lyons (8 November 1956 – 11 November 1982) was a Welsh

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 forward in the Football League.

Career

Lyons was born in

Buckley Buckley may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Buckley's, a Canadian pharmaceutical corporation * Buckley Aircraft, an American aircraft manufacturer * Buckley Broadcasting, an American broadcasting company * Buckley School (California), ...

, Wales. He attended the Buckley County Primary School and

Elfed High School Elfed High School () is an 11–16 mixed, English-medium community secondary school in Buckley, Flintshire, Wales. History Opened in 1954, the school was named after Hywel Elfed Lewis 1860-1953, the renowned bard and scholar who served as ...

. Whilst at the High School he represented Wales as an Under 15 basketball player. He began his football career with

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

as an apprentice and signed as a professional player in September 1975. He scored 23 goals in 86 appearances and helped the team to the Third Division title in the 1977–78 season. He joined

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, eas ...

in 1979, making 55 appearances and registering 20 league goals, many of which were from free-kicks just outside the penalty box, his speciality. He then signed for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

, where he appeared 21 times scoring 6 goals. He joined

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

for £25,000 and scored on his debut as Colchester defeated rivals

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

5–2 in front of the

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...

cameras. Lyons committed suicide at his home in Layer de la Haye on 11 November 1982 only hours after appearing for

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was only used for football matches and was the home ground of Colchester United before being replaced by the Colchester Community Stadium. The stadium held spectators and was ...

.Colchester United , Club , History , History , The U's History: The 80s

Honours

Club

;

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

Winner (1): 1977–78

Individual

* Millwall Player of the Year (1): 1980

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons, John 1956 births 1982 deaths Welsh footballers Association football forwards Cambridge United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Millwall F.C. players English Football League players People from Buckley, Flintshire Sportspeople from Flintshire 1982 suicides Suicides in England