Gerry Hitchens

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Gerry Hitchens
Personnel
Surname Gerald Archibald Hitchens
birthday October 8, 1934
place of birth Rawnsley ,  England
date of death April 13, 1983
Place of death Hope ,  Wales
size 178 cm
position Center Forward
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1952-1953 Highley Miners Welfare
1953-1955 Kidderminster Harriers 14 0(6)
1955-1957 Cardiff City 95 (40)
1957-1961 Aston Villa 132 (78)
1961–1962 Inter Milan 39 (17)
1962-1965 AC Turin 89 (28)
1965-1967 Atalanta Bergamo 58 (10)
1967 →  Chicago Mustangs  (loan)
1967-1969 Cagliari Calcio 19 0(4)
1969-1971 Worcester City 51 (25)
1971 Merthyr Tydfil 6 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1956 England U-23 1 0(1)
1961–1962 England 7 0(5)
1 Only league games are given.

Gerald Archibald "Gerry" Hitchens (born October 8, 1934 in Rawnsley , † April 13, 1983 in Hope ) was an English football player . The center forward and World Cup participant from 1962 first celebrated his sporting breakthrough at Cardiff City and Aston Villa before continuing his career in the top Italian division in the 1960s.

Athletic career

Hitchens was born near Cannock Chase in Rawnsley - in the central English county of Staffordshire . The path to professional football was sluggish for him at the beginning, when he hired himself as a miner at a young age and at the same time went hunting for goals in nearby Shropshire for the works team Highley Miners Welfare . There he was discovered in a regional cup final by Ted Gamson, the club secretary of the Kidderminster Harriers from the Southern League . In September 1953 Hitchens signed a professional contract there and after his first appearances in the reserve team he scored eleven goals in the 1954/55 season to January 1955. As a result, he aroused the appetite of clubs from the highest English league and the choice fell on the Welsh capital club Cardiff City . The transfer fee was 1,500 pounds and Cardiff had received preference over the likewise interested West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa . With the "Bluebirds" Hitchens developed in the following two and a half years into one of the best goalscorer in the First Division . He mostly acted in the attack center and occasionally preferred the left wing for offensive actions. Although he met 21 times in the 1956/57 season , this was not enough to avert relegation to the second division. Half a year later, Aston Villa renewed his interest in a commitment and so Hitchens moved to Birmingham in December 1957 for £ 22,500.

After his debut for Aston Villa on December 21, 1957 against local rivals Birmingham City (0-2), he scored the first goal for his new club on Boxing Day against FC Arsenal (3-0) and two more goals to make it 2: 1 against Everton FC a year ago. He quickly played his way into the regular formation of the "Villans", but in the following season 1958/59 again his high yield of 16 hits was not enough to prevent relegation from the first division . The following year, however, the direct resurgence and Hitchens contributed 23 goals - including five hits to 11: 1 against Charlton Athletic on November 14, 1959. The following year, Hitchens exceeded his quota again and after 29 hits, which was decisive for the league had he arrived in May 1961 the first international duty for England .

In his debut against Mexico (8-0), he scored the first goal in the second minute and his second appearance a fortnight later against Italy in Rome was trend-setting in several ways. Hitchens contributed two goals to the 3-2 prestige win, which attracted the interest of Inter Milan . British top players were very popular in Italy for the 1961/62 season and alongside Hitchens, who eventually moved to Inter for £ 85,000, Jimmy Greaves (to AC Milan ), Denis Law and Joe Baker (both to AC Turin ) followed a similar path a. Due to his imminent move, Hitchens was also absent from Aston Villa's final of the League Cup, which was played in the course of the 1960/61 season but only ended in late August / early September 1961 (Hitchens had previously scored eleven goals in ten league cup games) In the 1961/62 season , Hitchens scored 16 goals for Inter, making it the third top scorer in Serie A (together with Angelo Sormani ) and also winning the Italian runner-up. Then he went to Chile for the 1962 World Cup with the English national team . There he played two games, both of which ended in defeats - both the first appearance against Hungary (1: 2) and the quarter-final against world champions Brazil (1: 3), in which he had ensured the interim equalization to 1: 1. The fact that Hitchens was no longer considered by the "Three Lions" was because Alf Ramsey took over the management of the national team and did not attach any importance to players who pursued their profession abroad.

Hitchens remained a fixture in Italian top division football in the course of the 1960s, although the title failed to materialize. He contributed little to winning the 1963 championship from Inter, because after just five league games at the start of the season, he had moved on to Serie A rivals AC Turin . The reason for this was that coach Helenio Herrera preferred the young Sandro Mazzola to him . In exchange, Beniamino Di Giacomo went to Milan. During his time in Italy, Hitchens was given the nickname panocchia , "corn on the cob", and pel di carota , "carrot head" because of the reddish-blond head of hair that stood out clearly on the field between the dark-haired Italians . In Turin he only needed a short time to win over the fans. This was achieved by the technically not necessarily most experienced player thanks to his "English" style of play, his fighting power, his dynamism, his passion for playing. The former miner became a role model for the young AC players.

Under coach Nereo Rocco , who moved from AC Milan to Turin in 1963 , he stayed for another two years until the end of the 1964/65 season, which AC Turin finished in third place in Serie A - after three lean years again before local rivals Juventus . In the European Cup Winners' Cup , the defeated Coppa Italia finalist last year reached the semi-finals; Turin only had to bow to TSV 1860 Munich in a play-off .

Hitchens moved to Atalanta Bergamo after the successful season , but reached no more than 11th place with his new club in the 1966/67 season. He then moved again and joined Cagliari Calcio . For the Sardinians he played alongside "Gigi" Riva , who had become Serie A top scorer in 1967. Hitchens left the club before the 1969/70 season, in which it won the Italian championship for the only time. After just two league appearances in the 1968/69 season, he returned to the British Isles, where he ended his active career in the Southern League at Worcester City and in the early 1970s in Wales at Merthyr Tydfil .

After the end of his career, he moved permanently to Wales, initially to work in Pontypridd . In 1977 he moved to Holywell , Flintshire , where he took over the management of his brother-in-law's wood processing company in nearby Prestatyn . His early death at the age of only 48 was tragic. He suddenly collapsed during a charity soccer game in Hope , and after being admitted to a Wrexham hospital, only death could be determined.

Title / Awards

literature

  • Goodyear, Simon: The Gerry Hitchens Story . Breedon Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-85983-752-8 .
  • Rob Bishop / Frank Holt: Aston Villa - The Complete Record . DB Publishing, Derby, 2010, ISBN 978-1-85983-805-1 , pp. 230 f .
  • Hayes, Dean P .: England! England! The Complete Who's Who of Players since 1946 . Sutton Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7509-3234-1 , pp. 140 f .
  • Le Bandiere del Toro: Gerry Hutchins , in: Stasi, Andrea: Le Bandiere del Toro. 52 ritratti di Campioni Granata. Progetti Web, 2011, ISBN 9788890410611 ( online version )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "England - U-23 International Results- Details" (RSSSF)
  2. ^ "Player who went from miner to international" (Express & Star)
  3. ↑ "From mining to Milan - Hitchens did City proud" (Wales Online)
personal data
SURNAME Hitchens, Gerry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hitchens, Gerald Archibald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Rawnsley
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1983
Place of death Hope