Johnny King (footballer, born 1932)

John William King (born 9 August 1932) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City.[1]

Johnny King

Personal information
Full name	John William King[1]
Date of birth	9 August 1932[1]
Place of birth	Wrenbury, England[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1950–1953	Crewe Alexandra	48	(17)
1953–1961	Stoke City	284	(106)
1961–1962	Cardiff City	33	(6)
1962–1967	Crewe Alexandra	178	(45)
Total		543	(174)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

King began his career with his local side Crewe Alexandra in 1950. He formed a good partnership with Frank Blunstone and the pair were highly wanted by other clubs. King joined Stoke City for £8,000 and soon began to show his worth. He spent eight seasons at the Victoria Ground making 311 appearances scoring 113 goals to become one of the club's greatest goalscorers. He later played for Cardiff City and made a return to his home town team, Crewe Alexandra.

Career

King was regarded as a natural goalscorer and despite his rather 'chunky' build was a fast runner.[1] He started his career at his local side Crewe Alexandra, where he partnered Frank Blunstone who was later capped by England.[1] When Blunstone left for Chelsea King decided to join Stoke City who were at the time in the Second Division.[1] He immediately began to score goals and quickly became a firm fan favourite.[1] He was a regular goalscorer season after season at Stoke and became one a few Stoke players to have score over one hundred League goals.[1]

A natural left footer King was a very skilful player and at 5 ft 7in he was not the typical Forward of the 1950s but there was no question about his ability to lead the forward line.[1] 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.[1]

He later joined Cardiff City and returned to Crewe Alexandra where he helped win promotion in 1963. After retirement from football King went on play tennis and almost qualified for the Wimbledon Championships in 1970.[1]

Career statistics

Source:[2]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crewe Alexandra	1950–51	Third Division North	1	0	0	0	–		1	0
	1951–52	Third Division North	2	0	0	0	–		2	0
	1952–53	Third Division North	40	17	1	0	–		41	17
	1953–54	Third Division North	5	0	0	0	–		5	0
	Total		48	17	1	0	–|		49	17
Stoke City[1]	1953–54	Second Division	24	11	3	1	–		27	12
	1954–55	Second Division	36	17	6	3	–		42	20
	1955–56	Second Division	36	16	5	2	–		41	18
	1956–57	Second Division	34	9	1	0	–		35	9
	1957–58	Second Division	38	15	3	0	–		41	15
	1958–59	Second Division	33	13	0	0	–		33	13
	1959–60	Second Division	42	13	2	0	–		44	13
	1960–61	Second Division	41	12	6	1	1	0	48	13
	Total		284	106	26	7	1	0	311	113
Cardiff City	1961–62	First Division	33	6	1	0	4	2	38	8
Crewe Alexandra	1962–63	Fourth Division	46	17	3	0	1	0	50	17
	1963–64	Third Division	41	9	2	0	1	0	44	9
	1964–65	Fourth Division	42	10	0	0	1	0	43	10
	1965–66	Fourth Division	40	8	4	1	3	1	47	10
	1966–67	Fourth Division	8	1	0	0	1	0	9	1
	Total		177	45	9	1	7	1	193	47
Career Total			542	174	37	8	12	3	591	185

References

1. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
2. Johnny King at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

External links

• Johnny King at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
• Johnny King Audio interview at BBC.co.uk