James Henry Kenneth Oliver (10 August 1924 – 13 May 1994) 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 le ...

who played as a defender, most notably for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Career

Early career

Having started his career with Brush Sports, Oliver played for

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 ...

during the late 1940s.

Derby County

Oliver joined Derby in September 1949 from Sunderland, from where he had made several occasional appearances in league football. His senior Derby debut came in October that year. He became a regular first choice centre-back for the club, where he remained until the 1954–55 season, when he played just nine times. During his latter years with Derby County, Oliver was interviewed in November 1957 by board directors from

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

, who were considering appointing him as a player-manager. Derby said they would release Oliver with their blessing for only a nominal fee, should he secure the role.

Exeter City

Oliver signed for Exeter City in January 1958, becoming the first signing of new manager

Frank Broome Frank Broome (11 June 1915 – 10 September 1994) was an English professional footballer and manager. He played for Aston Villa during his professional career and won seven caps as an England striker, scoring three times, including once against ...

, whom he had previously worked with at Derby County. The transfer fee was reported as being a four-figure sum.

Retirement

After retiring from football following his exit from Exeter City, there were rumours that Oliver may be joining

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, however he refuted the rumours, suggesting that he intended to take up coaching and continue playing golf.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Ken 1924 births 1994 deaths Sportspeople from Loughborough Footballers from Leicestershire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Brush Sports F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players English Football League players Royal Marines personnel of World War II Military personnel from Leicestershire