| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 27 July 1912 | ||
| Place of birth | Bootle, England | ||
| Date of death | October 1993 (age 81) | ||
| Place of death | St Helens, Lancashire, England | ||
| Position(s) | Outside left | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bootle JOC | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1931–1938 | Liverpool | 166 | (50) |
| 1938–1939 | Chelsea | 45 | (9) |
| 1941–1942 | Gloucester City | 18 | (14) |
| 1946–1947 | Shelbourne | 13 | (11) |
| 1947–1948 | South Liverpool | ||
| 1949–1950 | Ellesmere Port Town | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1946–1947 | Shelbourne | ||
| 1947–1948 | South Liverpool | ||
| 1949–1950 | Ellesmere Port Town | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Adolph Jonathan "Alf" Hanson (27 July 1912 – October 1993) was afootball player forLiverpool,Chelsea,South Liverpool,Shelbourne,Ellesmere Port Town andTranmere Rovers.
BornBootle,Lancashire, Hanson played forBootle before he signed forGeorge Patterson's Liverpool in November 1931, he did not make his debut until 21 January 1933 in a1st Division match atVilla Park. Liverpool lost the match 5–2. Hanson scored his first goal 11 days later in his second appearance in a red shirt on 1 February 1933 in a league game atAnfield.Middlesbrough were the visitors and won the match 3–1. Later that season Hanson scored a hat-trick in a 7–4derby win against rivalsEverton.[citation needed]
Hanson, a ship's plumber by trade, eventually ended up with 52 goals in 177 appearances for Liverpool. Although he had an eye for goal his main talent[according to whom?] was the ability to send over pinpoint crosses for one of Liverpool's centre forwardsGordon Hodgson.[citation needed]
Alf Hanson's brotherStan was the goalkeeper forBolton Wanderers when the two sides met at Anfield on 23 April 1938, the two brothers were made their teams respectivecaptains with Alf coming out on top in a 2–1 victory for Liverpool with goals in the fourth and seventh minutes fromJack Balmer andPhil Taylor respectively.[citation needed]
A columnist from theLiverpool Echo newspaper once wrote of Hanson "A slip of a lad he was not entirely a one-footed player but it was that left boot which put fear into the hearts of goalkeepers when they saw Alf prancing down the wing."[citation needed]
Hanson left Liverpool in the summer of 1938 for the sum of £7,500 although he did 'guest' for Liverpool again in a wartime match. Other clubs he guested for during World War II includedWrexham,Chester,Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers,Crewe Alexandra,Rochdale,Tranmere Rovers andSouthport.[1] Hanson eventually entered into management taking on the role of player/manager for South Liverpool, Shelbourne and Ellemere Port Town.
His one season atShelbourne he finished as joint top scorer in theLeague of Ireland.[2]
Hanson's onlyEngland appearance came in a wartime international on 8 February 1941 againstScotland whilst he was contracted to Chelsea. The game was atSt James' Park and ended in a 3–2 win to Scotland. Hanson did, however, play regularly for the England baseball team.[citation needed]
Alf Hanson died in 1993 aged 81.
Individual