Jack Connor
Posted on: Fri 27 Jun 2008
JACK CONNOR was, quite simply, a goal machine. Judge for yourself. He scored 140 County goals in just 217 appearances.
He claimed a club record 17 hat-tricks, which included four goals against Bradford Park Avenue and Tranmere Rovers, plus five goals against Workington and Carlisle United.
And in 1953 he joined an elite band of players, which included Alf Lythgoe, another County goal-scoring legend by scoring a hat-trick of hat-tricks in consecutive games: Chester, Crewe and Chester.
The Hatters had tried to sign Connor from Rochdale in April 1951 but he decided to join Bradford City. Six months later, however, they finally got their man, albeit in very unusual circumstances.
Connor and his wife, Sue, were sat in a Bradford cinema when a message flashed across the screen: 'Would Jack Connor, Bradford City's centre-forward, please go the foyer'. He followed the instructions and was met by County chairman Ernest Barlow and manager Andy Beattie. He signed on the spot for a fee of £2,500!
Following a dispute with player-manager Willie Moir, Connor left Edgeley Park for Crewe in September 1956, but he was unable to repeat his goal-scoring exploits at Gresty Road and, after a season in non-league football with Runcorn, announced his retirement in 1958. John (Jack) Thomas Connor sadly passed away, seven days before his 79th birthday, in December 1998, but his name will never be forgotten.
To celebrate County's 100th anniversary of the club's election to the Football League in 1900, Stockport County's Ex-Players Association organised a poll to find the 'Hatters' Player of the Century'.
Jack Connor won the vote by some considerable distance. There can be no greater tribute.
Jack Connor's full League record:
|
Club |
Date Joined |
Aps |
Gls |
|
Ipswich Town |
November 1944 |
12 |
4 |
|
Carlisle United |
December 1946 |
39 |
12 |
|
Rochdale |
December 1948 |
82 |
42 |
|
Bradford City |
April 1951 |
14 |
7 |
|
Stockport County |
October 1951 |
206 |
132 |
|
Crewe Alexandra |
September 1956 |
27 |
4 |
|
Total |
|
380 |
201 |
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