 Hitchens in 1960 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gerald Archibald Hitchens | ||
| Date of birth | (1934-10-08)8 October 1934 | ||
| Place of birth | Rawnsley, Staffordshire, England | ||
| Date of death | 13 April 1983(1983-04-13) (aged 48) | ||
| Place of death | Hope,Clwyd, Wales | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1952–1953 | Highley Miners Welfare | ||
| 1953–1955 | Kidderminster Harriers | 14 | (6) |
| 1955–1957 | Cardiff City | 95 | (40) |
| 1957–1961 | Aston Villa | 132 | (78) |
| 1961–1962 | Inter Milan | 39 | (17) |
| 1962–1965 | Torino | 89 | (28) |
| 1965–1967 | Atalanta | 58 | (10) |
| 1967 | →Chicago Mustangs (loan) | (1) | |
| 1967–1969 | Cagliari | 19 | (4) |
| 1969–1971 | Worcester City | 51 | (25) |
| 1971 | Merthyr Tydfil | 6 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1961–1962 | England | 7 | (5) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gerald Archibald Hitchens (8 October 1934 – 13 April 1983) was an Englishfootballer who played as acentre forward.[1][2]
Gerry Hitchens died on 20 April 1983. He was playing in 1983 during a charity football match for a Mold-based firm of solicitors at Castell Alun sports ground in Hope. Seconds after heading a cross over the bar, Hitchens collapsed and was taken toWrexham General Hospital but pronounced dead on arrival. His ashes were interred in Holywell . He was 48.[3]
Hitchens was born in the village ofRawnsley, Staffordshire, nearCannock, and began his career as a coal miner. He played inShropshire withHighley Youth Club and Highley Miners Welfare between 1952 and 1953. He appeared in a county cup final for the Miners at Aggborough, the home stadium of local clubKidderminster Harriers. His performance was being watched by the Harriers club secretary Ted Gamson, who went on to offer Hitchens a contract in September 1953. After several seasons in the reserves, Hitchens played fourteen games for the first team, scoring six goals.
Despite interest fromWest Bromwich Albion andAston Villa, Hitchens moved toCardiff City in January 1955 for a fee of £1,500. Hitchens got off to a good start by scoring within three minutes of the kick-off when making his League debut againstWolverhampton Wanderers in April 1955. Hitchens was then playing inside-forward but he subsequently took over the centre-forward berth and was top scorer in the subsequent two seasons.[4]
Hitchens moved on to Aston Villa in 1957 for £22,500, where he spent four seasons, scoring 96 goals in 160 appearances.[5][6]
He made his debut forEngland in 1961, scoring after just 90 seconds in an 8–0 drubbing ofMexico, and two weeks later scored twice more in Rome as England beatItaly 3–2.
This brought him to the attention ofInter Milan, who signed him in the summer of 1961 for £85,000.Hitchens was Internazionale's top scorer with 16 goals in his first season.[7]
He played for England in the1962 World Cup in Chile, and won a total of seven caps, scoring five goals. When chosen to appear for England in the World Cup, Hitchens became the first Englishman to represent his country while on the books of a foreign club.[8] Inter won Serie A in 1963, making him the second Englishman to win the Italian title afterJimmy Greaves and the last untilAshley Young did so for the same club in 2021.[9]
However, whenAlf Ramsey took over as England manager, Hitchens' international spell came to a halt, Ramsey preferring to pick home-based players.[10][11]
Nevertheless, Hitchens stayed in Italy for nine years, also playing forTorino,Atalanta andCagliari.
After retiring from the professional game in 1971, he played forWorcester City and Merthyr Tydfil before moving to live in Wales, managing an ironworks inPontypridd before moving north toHolywell,Flintshire, in 1977 to run his brother-in-law's timber supply firm nearPrestatyn.
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cardiff City | 1954–55 | First Division | 2 | 1 | – | |||||
| 1955–56 | 36 | 15 | – | |||||||
| 1956–57 | 41 | 21 | – | |||||||
| 1957–58 | Second Division | 16 | 3 | – | ||||||
| Total | 95 | 40 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Aston Villa | 1957–58 | First Division | 20 | 10 | 2 | 1 | – | 22 | 11 | |
| 1958–59 | 35 | 16 | 6 | 2 | – | 41 | 18 | |||
| 1959–60 | Second Division | 36 | 23 | 5 | 2 | – | 41 | 25 | ||
| 1960–61 | First Division | 41 | 29 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 56 | 42 | |
| Total | 132 | 78 | 18 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 160 | 96 | ||
| Inter Milan | 1961–62 | Serie A | 34 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 37 | 18 |
| 1962–63 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 6 | 2 | |||
| Total | 39 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 20 | ||
| Torino | 1962–63 | Serie A | 24 | 11 | ||||||
| 1963–64 | 33 | 9 | ||||||||
| 1964–65 | 32 | 8 | ||||||||
| Total | 89 | 28 | ||||||||
| Atalanta | 1965–66 | Serie A | 33 | 6 | ||||||
| 1966–67 | 25 | 4 | ||||||||
| Total | 58 | 10 | ||||||||
| Cagliari | 1967–68 | Serie A | 17 | 4 | ||||||
| 1968–69 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| Total | 19 | 4 | ||||||||
| Career total | 432 | 177 | ||||||||
Cardiff City
Aston Villa
Inter Milan
Torino
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
