Seth King (14 February 1897 – 8 February 1958) was an English footballer who played as a defender 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 ...

. Born in

Penistone Penistone ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 22,909 at the 2011 census. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is west of Barnsley, n ...

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, England, he began his career as an amateur playing for his local church team. After a spell in Huddersfield Town's reserves, he signed as a professional for Sheffield United, for whom he played over 100 times and won an

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 ...

winners medal in 1925. He later had spells at Oldham Athletic and Denaby United before retiring.

Career

King had been spotted by Huddersfield Town in 1919, playing as an amateur for his local church side. He spent a season in Town's reserves but was not offered a long-term contract and returned to his local club. He was again spotted by a

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side, and this time Sheffield United agreed to sign him for £10 in November 1920. King made a slow start to his United career, spending two seasons in the reserves and not making his first team debut until 1922, after which he played intermittently for the following two seasons as cover when first team regulars were injured. It was not until established centre back

Jimmy Waugh James Waugh (12 August 1898 – 26 March 1968) was an English footballer who played as a centre half. Born in the village of Chopwell in County Durham, Waugh began his career as an amateur with Durham City before spending a brief spell represe ...

suffered a serious injury in December 1924 that King was given the opportunity to make regular starts. King became a mainstay of the defence for the next three years and played for United at

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when they won the

1925 FA Cup Final The 1925 FA Cup Final was an association football match contested by Sheffield United and Cardiff City on 25 April 1925 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the ...

. Like many other defenders King found the changes to the offside law for the 1925–26 season difficult to adapt to, but retained his place until 1927 when the club signed Vince Matthews. King was sold to Oldham Athletic for £400 in May 1929 where he made 91 league appearances before his contract was cancelled in February 1932 following an injury. Although intending to retire, King later spent some time playing as an amateur for Denaby United.

Personal life

After leaving Oldham Athletic, King took over the tenancy of the Castle Inn in

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. At the time of his death he was running a newsagents in

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Honours

Club

;Sheffield United *

: Winner –

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Seth 1897 births 1958 deaths People from Penistone Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley Footballers from South Yorkshire English men's footballers English Football League players Men's association football defenders Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Denaby United F.C. players Penistone Church F.C. players