John William McCue (22 August 1922 – 19 November 1999) 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, rugby le ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Oldham Athletic and

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 ...

Career

McCue was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

and was spotted playing for Longton schools and joined Stoke as an amateur in 1937. He signed professional forms in 1940 and due to his wartime occupation as a

physical training instructor Physical training instructor (PTI) is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness. United Kingdom In the British Army, specialist Phys ...

he remained local and made the left back spot his own from 1942–43 onwards, missing only one game from February 1943 to May 1945. The left-footed McCue's style was uncompromising, described as a 'grand kicker of the ball' and should an opposing winger get the better of him he would not averse the odd kick or two to rectify the situation. This earned him the nickname 'chopper' amongst his Stoke teammates. His impetuous tackling did lead to mistakes and a one such occasion McCue slipped as the attempted to tackle Sheffield United's

Walter Rickett Walter Rickett (20 March 1917 – 1991) was an English professional footballer who played as a winger for Sheffield United, Blackpool, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United and Halifax Town. Blackpool Rickett signed for Joe Smith's Blackpool ...

on the final day of the 1946–47 season, Stoke lost 2–1 and missed out on their first league title. After being demobbed, McCue played as a part-time professional working for the

British Coal Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

as a PT instructor. He trained intensely on a Tuesday's and Thursday's and his regimes were very army orientated. By 1948 Stoke's team-spirit was beginning to fall apart, with the loss of the title in 1947 and the departure of Stanley Matthews coupled with a number of big-name transfer failings caused rumbles of discontent with manager

Bob McGrory Robert Gerald McGrory (17 October 1891 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager. McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joining ...

. McCue along with five other players handed in transfer requests, each of which was rejected but the downward spiral continued which led to Stoke being relegated in 1952–53. Under new manager Frank Taylor McCue retained his consistency as he remained a vital part of the "Potters" team for seven seasons in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He eventually gave way to the younger Tony Allen and ended his 23-year association with Stoke City in 1960 joining Oldham Athletic at the age of 35. By the time he left Stoke McCue had set a club record of appearances of 542 with 675 including war time appearances. But War League matches are considered unofficial and therefore he lies 2nd on Stoke's all-time appearance list. He ended his career with

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

Oldham Athletic making 64 appearances under "Latics" manager Jack Rowley.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccue, John 1922 births 1999 deaths English men's footballers English Football League players Stoke City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent Macclesfield Town F.C. players