Geoff Hickson

Geoff Hickson

Personal information
Full name	George Geoffrey Hickson[1]
Date of birth	26 September 1939[1]
Place of birth	Crewe, England[1]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1955	Coventry City
1956	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1956–1958	Blackburn Rovers	0	(0)
1959–1961	Stoke City	11	(0)
1962–1968	Crewe Alexandra	105	(0)
1968	→ Port Vale (loan)	17	(0)
1968	Southport	3	(0)
1969	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	0	(0)
1969	Cape Town City
Total		136	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

George Geoffrey "Geoff" Hickson (born 26 September 1939) is an English former football goalkeeper who played in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra, Port Vale, Southport and Stoke City.^[1] He won promotion out of the Fourth Division with Crewe in 1962–63. He is one of six post-war players to have played for both the Potteries clubs as well as Crewe Alexandra.

Playing career

Hickson was born in Crewe and played as an amateur for Coventry City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers, before signing a professional contract at Stoke City in 1959.^[1] Long time regular Bill Robertson sustained an injury in the 1959–60 season, and Hickson was drafted in to provide cover.^[1] He played ten Second Division matches in December through to March but was dropped after conceding five away at Liverpool and Tommy Younger took his place for the remainder of the season.^[1] He played just once more for Stoke, on the final day of the 1960–61 season in a 3–1 win over Liverpool at the Victoria Ground.^[1] He joined his hometown club Crewe Alexandra in 1962, and played 43 of the club's 46 Fourth Division games as promotion was achieved in 1962–63. He then featured 30 times in the 1963–64 season, as Jimmy McGuigan's "Railwaymen" were relegated straight back out of the Third Division. He lost his place at Gresty Road under new boss Ernie Tagg, and featured just nine times in the 1966–67 campaign and was completely absent in the 1965–66 and 1967–68 campaigns. He was loaned to Fourth Division side Port Vale in August 1968, as manager Gordon Lee needed cover for the injured Stuart Sharratt.^[2] Described as a "part-time, pipe-smoking civil servant", he featured for the "Valiants" in the next twenty matches, but was recalled by Crewe in November that year.^[2] He later played for Southport, and played three Third Division games for the "Sandgrounders". He also had a loan spell with Shrewsbury Town, but did not take to the field at Gay Meadow. He later emigrated to South Africa to play for Cape Town City.

Career statistics

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stoke City	1959–60	Second Division	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
	1960–61		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	1961–62		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		11	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
Crewe Alexandra	1962–63	Fourth Division	43	0	3	0	0	0	46	0
	1963–64	Third Division	27	0	2	0	1	0	30	0
	1964–65	Fourth Division	26	0	1	0	0	0	27	0
	1965–66		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1966–67		9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
	1967–68		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		105	0	6	0	1	0	112	0
Port Vale (loan)	1968–69	Fourth Division	17	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
	Total		17	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
Southport	1968–69	Third Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Career Total			136	0	6	0	1	0	143	0

Honours

Crewe Alexandra

• Football League Fourth Division third place promotion: 1962–63

References

1. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
2. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 135. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.