Martyn Noel Geoffrey King (23 August 1937 – 25 December 2019) 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

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 ...

Career

King signed for

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 ...

from local side Pegasus in 1956, but it was not until 1959, when he was on the verge of completing National Service that he was available for every game. He responded by equalling Kevin McCurley's 30 League goals in-a-season club record including a trio of hat tricks. In total, he notched six hat-tricks in U's colours. On 30 December 1961, after a 4–1 Boxing Day defeat at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

, United set their club record victory in the return fixture, with both King and his strike partner Bobby Hunt scoring four goals each as the Colchester ran out 9–1 winners. He was a member of Colchester's outstanding 1961–62 promotion-winning team, which was also the highest-scoring team in the U's history, as Colchester hit the net 104 times in 44 league games and King struck up a prolific understanding with Hunt. The pair scored nearly 200 goals between them in under four seasons, before Hunt moved to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

in 1964. In 1964, King was sold to

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 ...

by Colchester manager

Neil Franklin Cornelius "Neil" Franklin (24 January 1922 – 9 February 1996) was an English footballer who played for Crewe Alexandra, Hull City, Stockport County and Stoke City as well as the England national team. Career Stoke City Franklin was ...

, where he scored 15 goals in 45 league appearances. King holds the Colchester United record for most league goals (130 between 1959 and 1965) and jointly holds the record for most goals scored in a match (4 - shared with Bobby Hunt and

Chris Iwelumo Christopher Robert Iwelumo (; born 1 August 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a striker. Iwelumo started his career with St Mirren before moving to Danish club Aarhus Fremad for two years. A move to Stoke City ...

). He also jointly holds the record for most hat-tricks scored (5 - shared with Arthur Pritchard, Arthur Turner and

Tony Adcock Anthony Charles Adcock (born 27 March 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Colchester United, where he holds the goalscoring record with 149 goals in all competitions for the club in two spell ...

After football

King taught Mathematics at his old school, Earls Colne Grammar School until it closed in 1975. He then moved to teach at Ramsey School, Halstead. In December 2008, King was due to be Colchester's guest for a game with

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

, but a ruptured aortic aneurysm left him seriously ill with severe bleeding to his stomach. He was later allowed home to begin his path back to full health. King died on 25 December 2019, aged 82.

Honours

Club

;

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

Runner-up (1): 1961–62

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Martyn 1937 births 2019 deaths Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Colchester United F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands