John Sissons
Personal information
Full name John Leslie Sissons[1]
Date of birth (1945-09-30) 30 September 1945 (age 78)
Place of birth Hayes, Middlesex, England
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1961–1963 West Ham United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1970 West Ham United 213 (37)
1970–1974 Sheffield Wednesday 115 (14)
1974 Norwich City 17 (2)
1974–1975 Chelsea 11 (0)
1975 → Tampa Bay Rowdies (loan) 19 (5)
1976–1978 Cape Town City
Total 375 (72)
International career
England Schools
England Youth
England U23 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Leslie Sissons (born 30 September 1945) is an English former footballer who played for West Ham United, Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich City and Chelsea.

Career

Sissons started his career as an apprentice for West Ham United in 1961. He joined the club along with Peter Bennett after the pair were spotted by scout Charlie Faulkner while playing for Middlesex Schoolboys.[2] He played for England Youth in the 1964 UEFA European Under-18 Championship and scored the fourth goal in the Final, a 4–0 win over Spain at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.[3]

He had played as an inside-left for Middlesex and England Schoolboys, but was moved to outside-left by Hammers manager Ron Greenwood. He made his senior debut for the east London club on 4 May 1963, a home game against Blackburn Rovers. Sissons became the youngest player to score in an FA Cup Final at Wembley, in May 1964, and second youngest to appear, behind his Preston North End counterpart Howard Kendall. He went on to play 213 league (37 goals) and 52 cup (16 goals) games for West Ham.[4]

Sissons moved to Wednesday in 1970 for £60,000.[5] He made 115 league appearances for the club, scoring 14 goals, before moving to Norwich City, where he rejoined former teammate John Bond.[4]

Chelsea signed Sissons for £70,000 from Norwich in August 1974.[6] He made his debut on 17 August 1974 in a 0–2 home defeat by Carlisle United. He made 11 appearances during the 1974–75 season but failed to establish himself in a struggling Chelsea side who were relegated at the end of the season.[6][7] In March 1975, he joined up with North American Soccer League club Tampa Bay Rowdies.[8] He was part of the championship-winning team which featured other English exports Clyde Best, Stewart Jump, Stewart Scullion, Paul Hammond and Mark Lindsay.[9][10]

After his release from Chelsea, Sissons emigrated to South Africa and finished his career with two seasons at Cape Town City.[4]

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
West Ham United[11] 1962–63 First Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 — — 1 0
1963–64 First Division 14 3 7 3 1 0 — — 22 6
1964–65 First Division 38 8 2 1 1 0 9 2 1[a] 0 51 11
1965–66 First Division 36 5 2 1 9 1 4 1 — 51 8
1966–67 First Division 35 7 2 1 6 3 — — 43 11
1967–68 First Division 37 8 3 2 2 0 — — 42 10
1968–69 First Division 32 4 1 0 2 1 — — 35 5
1969–70 First Division 20 2 1 0 0 0 — — 21 2
Total 213 37 18 8 21 5 13 3 1 0 266 53
Sheffield Wednesday[12] 1970–71 Second Division 36 3 0 0 1 0 — — 37 3
1971–72 Second Division 41 8 1 0 2 1 — — 44 9
1972–73 Second Division 32 3 5 0 2 0 — — 389 3
1973–74 Second Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 — — 6 0
Total 115 14 6 0 5 1 — — 126 15
Norwich City[13] 1973–74 Second Division 17 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 20 3
1974–75 First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[b] 0 1 0
Total 17 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 21 3
Chelsea[6] 1974–75 First Division 11 0 1 0 1 0 — — 13 0
Tampa Bay Rowdies[14] 1975 NASL 19 5 — — — — 19 5
Career total 375 58 25 8 30 7 13 3 2 0 445 76
  1. ^ Appearance in Charity Shield
  2. ^ Appearance in Texaco Cup

Honours

West Ham United

References

  1. ^ "John Sissons". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  2. ^ Sharratt, Ben; Blows, Kirk (2012). Claret and Blue Blood: Pumping Life into West Ham United. Mainstream Publishing. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-78057-764-7.
  3. ^ Garin, Erik; Jönsson, Mikael (8 February 2004). "UEFA Youth Tournament Under 18, 1964". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 187. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
  5. ^ "John Sissons". westhamstats.info. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "John L Sissons". stamford-bridge.com. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  7. ^ Cheshire, Scott; Hockings, Ron. Chelsea Football Club The Full Statistical Story 1906–1986. ISBN 0-9511640-0-7.
  8. ^ "Rowdies Get Englishman". The Tampa Tribune. 29 March 1975. p. 39. Retrieved 26 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  9. ^ "Sissons & Sissons Kick Experts". St. Petersburg Times. 5 August 1975. p. 25. Retrieved 26 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  10. ^ "Six English loan players leave Rowdies today". The Tampa Times. 28 August 1975. p. 23. Retrieved 26 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  11. ^ Northcutt, John; Marsh, Steve (2015). West Ham United: The Complete Record. deCoubertin Books. pp. 274–305, 520–521. ISBN 978-1-909245-27-3.
  12. ^ Jackson, Stuart. "John Sissons". The Sheffield Wednesday Archive. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  13. ^ John Sissons at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  14. ^ "John Sissons". nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  15. ^ "West Ham United 3 Preston North End 2". WHUFC. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Liverpool 2-2 West Ham United". LFC History. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  17. ^ "TSV Munchen 0-2 West Ham, European Cup Winners Cup final 1964-65". West Ham Stats. Retrieved 26 June 2021.

External links

1975 NASL All-Stars
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. – Player of the Year
Categories