John Hickton

Who is John Hickton?

John Hickton is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a striker for Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, Hull City and Middlesbrough, and in the North American Soccer League for Fort Lauderdale Strikers. He is noted for his prolific scoring for Middlesbrough between 1966 and 1976.

Hickton was born in Brimington, near Chesterfield in Derbyshire. He started his career at Sheffield Wednesday, and made his debut in the Football League First Division on 7 March 1964 in a 2–2 draw away to Aston Villa. He went on to score 21 goals from 56 appearances, which caught the eye of Middlesbrough manager Stan Anderson, who took Hickton to Teesside in 1966.

Hickton was a goalscoring legend at Middlesbrough where he scored 192 goals in 10 years at the club, making nearly 500 appearances. As of 2009, he ranked fourth in the club's all-time goalscorers list and third in terms of appearances, behind George Camsell, George Elliott and Brian Clough, and Tim Williamson and Gordon Jones respectively.