- Eric Hayward
Football player infobox2
playername = Eric Hayward
fullname = Lionel Eric Hayward
nickname =
dateofbirth =August 2 1917
cityofbirth =Newcastle-under-Lyme
countryofbirth =England
dateofdeath = 1976
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
currentclub =
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1934-1937
1937-1952
clubs = Port Vale
Blackpool
caps(goals) = 035 (0)
275 (0)
manageryears =
managerclubs =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =Lionel Eric Hayward (more commonly known as Eric Hayward;
August 2 1917 — 1976) was an English professional footballer. He played as a defender.Hayward began his career with Port Vale in 1934. In three years with the club, he made 35 league appearances.
In 1937, he joined Joe Smith's Blackpool, with whom he would spend the next fifteen years. He made his debut for "the Seasiders" on
November 27 ,1937 , in a single-goal defeat by Liverpool atBloomfield Road . He went on to make 23 further appearances during the 1937–38 season.He missed only one game of the 1938–39 campaign, before
World War II intervened. When theFootball League resumed in a regional form in 1945–46, Hayward made only one appearance, due to his Army deployment inIndia . He did, however, feature in the 1943League War Cup Final victory over Arsenal.In 1946–47, Hayward made 20 appearances. The following season, 1947–48, he missed only one game as Blackpool finished in the top ten in Division One for the second consecutive season and made their first, unsuccessful appearance in an
FA Cup Final (see1948 FA Cup Final ). He went one better in 1948–49, being an ever-present.Hayward appeared in the first third of the 1949–50 campaign, before an injury ruled him out of the remaining fifteen games.
In 1950–51, Hayward made 37 league appearances as Blackpool finished third, their highest-ever finishing place in the League at that point. Blackpool also made their second appearance in an FA Cup Final (see
1951 FA Cup Final ). Again, they were unsuccessful.Hayward missed out on Blackpool's third – this time successful – attempt at winning the FA Cup by twelve months. He retired at the end of the 1951–52 season after making almost 300 appearances for the club.
References
* [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/blackpool/blackpool.htm Hayward's stats for Blackpool]
*cite book | first=Roy | last=Calley| coauthors= | title=Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992 | publisher=Breedon Books Sport | location= | year=1992 | editor= | id=ISBN 1-873626-07-X
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