- Gerry Hitchens
Gerald Archibald "Gerry" Hitchens (
October 8 ,1934 inRawnsley ,Staffordshire – 1983 in Hope,Clwyd ) was an English footballer, who played as acentre 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 andJoe Baker also moved toItaly that season).He played for England in the
1962 World Cup inChile , and won a total of seven caps, scoring five goals. However, whenAlf Ramsey took over as England manager, Hitchens' international spell came to a halt—Ramsey preferring to pick home-based players. Nevertheless, Hitchens stayed inItaly for nine years, also playing for Torino, Atalanta and Cagliari. After retiring, he moved toWales , where he died playing in a charity football match in 1983, at the age of 48.References
* [http://www.nobok.co.uk/Football/Legends/Other/Gerry%20Hitchens.aspx Nobok]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/halloffame/sport/gerry_hitchens.shtml BBC North East Wales — Hall of Fame]
*Cris Freddi , "The England Football Fact Book", Guinness, 1991. ISBN 0-85112-991-9.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
