Michael Fenton (30 October 1913 – 5 February 2003) was an

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international

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 ...

for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

either side of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, he scored 162 goals in 269 appearances in all competitions.

Early and personal life

Michael Fenton was born on 30 October 1913 in

Portrack Portrack is an east Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton area in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It is close to Billingham opposite Thornaby and just west of Middlesbrough. The area is a large industrial and business part of Stock ...

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He married Alfreda Davies in 1937. He ran a newsagents in the Roseworth shopping area of Stockton-on-Tees in the 1950s and 1960s.

Club career

Fenton started his professional career with

in 1932, having previously played football with Portrack Shamrocks (Stockton) and South Bank East (

). He made his debut in 1933, gradually replacing

George Camsell George Henry Camsell (27 November 1902 – 7 March 1966) was an English footballer who scored a club record 325 league goals in 419 games for Middlesbrough, and 18 goals in nine appearances for England. His 59 goals in one season (1926–27) fo ...

as Boro's leading goalscorer. Camsell was top scorer for ten consecutive seasons, though the club would soon become equally reliant on Fenton's goals. The

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

club struggled in the lower half of the First Division table in the 1933–34, 1934–35, and 1935–36 campaigns. Fenton scored 22 goals in 1936–37, to become the club's top-scorer, as "Boro" rose to seventh place. He then hit 26 goals in 1937–38 and 35 goals in 1938–39 as the club posted top five finishes. 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 ...

was suspended due to

. During the war, he continued to score goals for Middlesbrough. Also, he guested for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

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 ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. After the war, despite being wanted by Everton, Fenton returned to

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

, where he continued his scoring record, ending as top goalscorer for the next four seasons. He scored 23 goals in 1946–47 (level with

Wilf Mannion Wilfrid James Mannion (16 May 1918 – 14 April 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England. With his blonde ...

), 29 goals in 1947–48 and 12 goals in 1948–49. However,

David Jack David Bone Nightingale Jack (3 April 1898 – 10 September 1958) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. He scored 267 goals from 490 appearances in the Football League playing for Plymouth Argyle, Bolton Wanderers and Arsena ...

's "Boro" failed to break into the top ten. His retirement came at the end of the 1949–50 season, when he joined the back-room staff. He scored a total of 162 goals in 269 league and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

appearances, leaving him fifth in the club's all-time goalscoring charts. He remained on the staff until 1966. He has a corporate lounge named after him at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

International career

Fenton gained his one and only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on 9 April 1938 in a 1–0 defeat to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

England *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

: 1937–38

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Micky 1913 births 2003 deaths Footballers from Stockton-on-Tees English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's wartime international footballers Men's association football forwards Middlesbrough F.C. players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Notts County F.C. wartime guest players Rochdale A.F.C. wartime guest players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. wartime guest players Blackpool F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players Association football coaches Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff