John Hewie

Infobox Football biography
playername = John Hewie


fullname = John Davidson Hewie
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1928|12|12
cityofbirth = Pretoria
countryofbirth = South Africa
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|ft=6|in=2
nickname =
position = Versatile(mainly Left back)
currentclub =
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1949–1968 1968 1968-1971
clubs = ISCOR Arcadia Johannesburg Charlton Athletic Bexley United Arcadia
caps(goals) = 495 0(37)
nationalyears = 1956-1960
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 19 (2)
manageryears = 1968 1968-1971
managerclubs = Bexley United Arcadia

John Davidson Hewie (born December 12, 1928 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a former Scottish international footballer who spent most of his career with Charlton Athletic.

Hewie was born in Transvaal to Scottish ex-pat parents and lived there for the first 21 years of his life. He developed a keen interest in sport while at school, notably tennis and hockey .cite news|url= http://charltonathletic.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=905&p=2&stid=8384706
publisher=Rivals.net|title=netaddicks Greatest Team: Centre-Half|date=2005-07-03] Football however was his primary past-time and he honed his skills first with his employer's works team then local sides Arcadia and Johannesburg.

In October 1949 the opportunity arose for Hewie to turn professional with English side Charlton Athletic, who had already imported several other South African-based players. He would spend the next 19 years in south-east London, making over 500 appearancescite news|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=573362006| publisher = The Scotsman | title = Hewie swapped the High Veldt for Hampden | date=2006-04-15] for the "Addicks" and playing in almost every position, including four times as a goalkeeper, when regular custodian Mick Rose was injured.

In 1956 he made his debut for the Scottish national side, playing in a 1-1 draw against England at Hampden Park. His first appearance in a Scotland shirt occurred three years earlier when he was selected for a Scotland B game in Edinburgh. Remarkably, this was the first occasion Hewie had set foot in Scotland. He made a total of 19 appearances for Scotland, predominantly at fullback, during which he scored twice. He was selected in the squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup and missed a penalty in the 2-1 defeat by France.

Hewie briefly moved into a managerial role as his playing career ended, when he undertook the role of player-manager for non-league Kent side Bexley United.cite book | last = Lamming | first = Douglas | title = A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who’s Who, 1872-1986 | format = Hardback | publisher = Hutton Press | year = 1987 | id = (ISBN 0-907033-47-4) ] He returned to South Africa and first club Arcadia in 1968 and remained in the country of his birth until the early 1990s, at which point he returned to the United Kingdom. He currently lives in Spalding, Lincolnshire and still attends Charlton Athletic matches when the opportunity allows.

References