Gerry Hitchens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerald Archibald "Gerry" Hitchens (born October 8, 1934 in Rawnsley, Staffordshire; died 1983 in Hope, Clwyd) was an English footballer, who played as a centre forward.
Hitchens began his career with Kidderminster Harriers and Cardiff City before moving to Aston Villa in 1957, where he spent four seasons. He made his debut for England in 1961, scoring after just two minutes in an 8-0 drubbing of Mexico, and two weeks later scored twice more in Rome as England beat Italy 3–2. This brought him to the attention of Internazionale, who signed him in the summer as part of a spate of British exports (Jimmy Greaves, Denis Law and Joe Baker also moved to Italy that season).
He played for England in the 1962 World Cup in Chile, and won a total of seven caps, scoring five goals. However, when Alf Ramsey took over as England manager, Hitchens' international spell came to a halt—Ramsey preferring to pick home-based players. Nevertheless, Hitchens stayed in Italy for nine years, also playing for Torino, Atalanta and Cagliari. After retiring, he moved to Wales, where he died playing in a charity football match in 1983, at the age of 48.
[edit] References
- Nobok
- BBC North East Wales — Hall of Fame
- Cris Freddi, The England Football Fact Book, Guinness, 1991. ISBN 0-85112-991-9.
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