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John King
OVERALL STATISTICS
BIRTH	AGE	SIGNED ON	FROM
05-06-1922	N/A	Date unknown.	Vine Tavern
DEBUT		LAST MATCH	LEFT
07-10-1944 v Dewsbury		Wigan	1945- Oldham
CAREER			APPEARANCES (SUBS)
1942-1945			22 (0)
TRIES	GOALS	DGOALS	PTS
1	1	0	5

Biography of John King
HERITAGE NO : 612 John King by SHS When there are two 'J Kings' who play for the Saints within a certain time frame, that includes the Second World War, the task of identification can be problematical. We are quite certain, from looking at newspaper reports and Players' registers that this player originates from Sunbury Street, in Thatto Heath and was a member of the junior team which the club began to provide a much-needed pathway for the seniors during the crisis. There was no A team football then, so the Saints' plan of having a junior team in the Widnes League was quite a novel one and several notable players came from this route to have successful careers in the professional game. This player is not to be confused with Jack King, who played for the club before the start of the conflict, also from Thatto Heath, but, in his case, Stafford Road. An early example of John's entry into senior football is found in the match report for the game at Keighley, on 18th November 1944. Clericus, in the Reporter, wrote: "King and Glover, who played for the juniors the previous week were given their chance. King, at full-back, fielded and kicked well and showed a great improvement on his display at Dewsbury earlier in the season. He was much more confident and is only short of first team experience". Indeed, it is considered that John did actually make his full competitive debut in that match at Crown Flatt [7th October 1944] when Saints lost 31-2 to an All Star Dewsbury team, managed, of course, by Eddie Waring! John became a regular member of the senior team from the match against Featherstone Rovers, at Post Office Road on 2nd December 1944, until the end of the campaign. He took a significant part in the game against Wigan at Knowsley Road on Boxing Day 1944 [a positive one, I hasten to add], when there was there was tantamount to a riot and the whole thing had to be abandoned by referee Holbrook. Premier, in the St. Helens Newspaper [29th December 1944] tells the story of King's try in the match as follows: "King, kicking and following up when, not obstructed had achieved the most sensational success recorded by any St. Helens full-back against Wigan for many years. Though obviously tired by running himself right out, he put in a long kick to Belshaw and again went after the ball. Obstructed at the start, he got round the opposition and suddenly confronted Belshaw, as the latter was leisurely preparing to clear. Normally Belshaw would just have given him a turn of the body, a sidestep, and would have beaten King by ten to fifteen yards with ease. What came over him I cannot guess. Belshaw faced up like any ordinary player to the on-coming King, put in his kick, saw King charge the ball down and didn't recover from the shock in time to save the situation. King, nearly out on his feet, lumbered a few more yards and went over for a try. Only a young and very enthusiastic lad would have attempted the move that ended in such sensational success". Then, the likes of Harry Pimblett and young Joe Ball took up the reins at full-back in 1945-46 and John was transferred to Oldham on 19th November 1945. John's last match, in fact, was a Lancashire Cup semi-final tie at Central Park against Wigan on 17th October 1945, which the Cherry and Whites won 5-18. Looking at the RL Retain and Transfer lists for 1946-47, it is interesting to see J. King [full-back] on the Open to Transfer list from the Oldham club, at a £150 fee. We know that John was a telephonist at Rainhill Hospital and he was signed from the Vine Tavern Club. There the story goes cold. John died in St Helens in January 1979, aged 56. If anyone has any further information about this player and an image, we would be glad to hear from you.

Biography of John King

HERITAGE NO : 612

John King by SHS

When there are two 'J Kings' who play for the Saints within a certain time frame, that includes the Second World War, the task of identification can be problematical. We are quite certain, from looking at newspaper reports and Players' registers that this player originates from Sunbury Street, in Thatto Heath and was a member of the junior team which the club began to provide a much-needed pathway for the seniors during the crisis. There was no A team football then, so the Saints' plan of having a junior team in the Widnes League was quite a novel one and several notable players came from this route to have successful careers in the professional game.

This player is not to be confused with Jack King, who played for the club before the start of the conflict, also from Thatto Heath, but, in his case, Stafford Road. An early example of John's entry into senior football is found in the match report for the game at Keighley, on 18th November 1944. Clericus, in the Reporter, wrote: "King and Glover, who played for the juniors the previous week were given their chance. King, at full-back, fielded and kicked well and showed a great improvement on his display at Dewsbury earlier in the season. He was much more confident and is only short of first team experience". Indeed, it is considered that John did actually make his full competitive debut in that match at Crown Flatt [7th October 1944] when Saints lost 31-2 to an All Star Dewsbury team, managed, of course, by Eddie Waring!

John became a regular member of the senior team from the match against Featherstone Rovers, at Post Office Road on 2nd December 1944, until the end of the campaign. He took a significant part in the game against Wigan at Knowsley Road on Boxing Day 1944 [a positive one, I hasten to add], when there was there was tantamount to a riot and the whole thing had to be abandoned by referee Holbrook. Premier, in the St. Helens Newspaper [29th December 1944] tells the story of King's try in the match as follows: "King, kicking and following up when, not obstructed had achieved the most sensational success recorded by any St. Helens full-back against Wigan for many years. Though obviously tired by running himself right out, he put in a long kick to Belshaw and again went after the ball. Obstructed at the start, he got round the opposition and suddenly confronted Belshaw, as the latter was leisurely preparing to clear. Normally Belshaw would just have given him a turn of the body, a sidestep, and would have beaten King by ten to fifteen yards with ease. What came over him I cannot guess. Belshaw faced up like any ordinary player to the on-coming King, put in his kick, saw King charge the ball down and didn't recover from the shock in time to save the situation. King, nearly out on his feet, lumbered a few more yards and went over for a try. Only a young and very enthusiastic lad would have attempted the move that ended in such sensational success".

Then, the likes of Harry Pimblett and young Joe Ball took up the reins at full-back in 1945-46 and John was transferred to Oldham on 19th November 1945. John's last match, in fact, was a Lancashire Cup semi-final tie at Central Park against Wigan on 17th October 1945, which the Cherry and Whites won 5-18. Looking at the RL Retain and Transfer lists for 1946-47, it is interesting to see J. King [full-back] on the Open to Transfer list from the Oldham club, at a £150 fee. We know that John was a telephonist at Rainhill Hospital and he was signed from the Vine Tavern Club. There the story goes cold. John died in St Helens in January 1979, aged 56. If anyone has any further information about this player and an image, we would be glad to hear from you.

SEASON STATISTICS
Season (Official Matches)	Tries	Goals	DGoals	Matches
1944~45	1	1	0	18
1945~46	0	0	0	4
TOTALS:	1	1	0	22
Season (Other Matches)	Tries	Goals	DGoals	Matches
1942~43	0	0	0	1
1944~45	0	0	0	1
TOTALS:	0	0	0	2

ALL MATCHES

Date	Match		Pos	Opponents	Comp	Venue	FT	FTO	T	G
23rd Jan 1943	--	L	1	Barrow *	Fr	A	14	21			VIEW
7th Oct 1944	1	L	1	Dewsbury	WEL	A	2	31			VIEW
18th Nov 1944	2	L	1	Keighley	WEL	A	8	15		1	VIEW
2nd Dec 1944	3	L	1	Featherstone Rovers	WEL	A	2	8			VIEW
9th Dec 1944	4	W	1	Dewsbury	WEL	H	12	0			VIEW
16th Dec 1944	5	L	1	Huddersfield	WEL	A	8	20			VIEW
25th Dec 1944	6	L	1	Wigan	WEL	A	5	20			VIEW
26th Dec 1944	7	L	1	Wigan	WEL AB	H	3	12	1		VIEW
30th Dec 1944	8	W	1	Keighley	WEL	H	10	0			VIEW
13th Jan 1945	9	L	1	Barrow	WEL	A	6	22			VIEW
3rd Feb 1945	10	L	1	Halifax	WEL	A	3	29			VIEW
10th Feb 1945	11	L	1	Castleford	WEL	H	2	16			VIEW
17th Feb 1945	12	L	1	Barrow	WEL	H	8	24			VIEW
24th Feb 1945	13	L	1	Leeds	WEL	A	14	20			VIEW
3rd Mar 1945	14	L	1	Wakefield Trinity	WEL	A	7	36			VIEW
10th Mar 1945	15	L	1	Oldham	WEL	H	10	21			VIEW
17th Mar 1945	16	L	1	Bradford Northern	CC1(1)	H	8	15			VIEW
24th Mar 1945	17	L	1	Bradford Northern	CC1(2)	A	13	34			VIEW
7th Apr 1945	18	L	1	Bradford Northern	WEL	A	0	22			VIEW
28th Apr 1945	--	W	1	Wigan *	Fr	H	13	6			VIEW
1st Sep 1945	19	L	1	Widnes	L	H	2	7			VIEW
3rd Sep 1945	20	W	1	Broughton Rangers	L	A	11	5			VIEW
8th Sep 1945	21	W	1	Oldham	L	A	23	15			VIEW
17th Oct 1945	22	L	1	Wigan	LCSF	A	5	18			VIEW

*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.

WINS : 5 \| LOSSES : 19 \| DRAWS :

THIS PAGE LINK : http://saints.org.uk/saints/player.php?num=16792

John King

OVERALL STATISTICS

Biography of John King

SEASON STATISTICS

ALL MATCHES