John William King (9 August 1932 – 2 April 2025) 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 lea ...

who played as a forward 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. King began his career with his local side Crewe Alexandra in 1950. He formed a partnership with

Frank Blunstone Frank Blunstone (born 17 October 1934) is an English former footballer who played as an outside left for Crewe Alexandra, Chelsea and the England national team. Playing career After surprisingly rejecting Wolverhampton Wanderers in favour of ...

and the pair were highly wanted by other clubs. King joined Stoke City for £8,000 and continued to show his worth. He spent eight seasons at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

making 311 appearances scoring 113 goals to become one of the club's greatest goalscorers. He later played for Cardiff City and in 1962 made a successful return to his home town team, Crewe Alexandra. King died on 2 April 2025, at the age of 92.

Career

Despite his somewhat 'chunky' build, King was considered to be an excellent goal scorer. He started his career at his local

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

side

, making his debut on Boxing Day 1950 in a 1–0 defeat at Halifax Town. However, he did not become a first-team regular until the 1952–53 season. He scored his first Crewe goal in a 1–1 draw against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

on 10 September 1952,Crisp, p.84. and totalled 17 goals in the season, while forming a strong partnership with

who was later capped by England. When Blunstone left for Chelsea, King decided to join Stoke City (for a fee of £8,000 in September 1953), who were at the time in the Second Division. He immediately began to score goals and quickly became a firm fan favourite. Season after season, he scored regularly for Stoke and became one of the few Stoke players to score more than 100 League goals. King was a natural left footer who was a very skilful player and, at 5'7" (1.70 m) not the typical forward in the 1950s, but his ability to lead the attacking line was undeniable. A regular scorer, he topped the scorer charts at Stoke in three seasons amassing 113 goals for the club in all competitions placing him as Stoke's fifth all-time top goalscorer. King later joined

for a season before returning to Crewe Alexandra where he scored on his second debut for the club (a 3-1 victory at

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

on 18 August 1962).Crisp, p.94. He scored a further 16 goals that promotion-winning season, including a hat-trick against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

on 13 October 1962. He formed another strong striking partnership, this time with the even more prolific Frank Lord, who scored a then record 33 goals for the side that season - Crewe fan Charlie Morris later wrote "Alex fans had a King to complement our Lord, and a biblical flood of goals resulted." Before retiring at the end of the 1966–67 season, King took his total of Crewe goals over the two spells to 60 in 226 league games,Crisp, p.148. and 64 goals in 242 games in all competitions. King went on to play tennis and almost qualified for the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

in 1970.

Career statistics

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Johnny 1932 births 2025 deaths People from the Borough of Cheshire East English men's footballers Footballers from Cheshire Men's association football forwards English Football League players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players