John Sissons (footballer)

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

John Sissons

Personal information
Full name	John Leslie Sissons[1]
Date of birth	(1945-09-30) 30 September 1945 (age 79)
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

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 2–0 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

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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

• FA Cup: 1963–64^[15]
• FA Charity Shield: 1964^[16]
• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1964–65^[17]

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. 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. "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.
9. "Sissons & Sissons Kick Experts". St. Petersburg Times. 5 August 1975. p. 25. Retrieved 26 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Six English loan players leave Rowdies today". The Tampa Times. 28 August 1975. p. 23. Retrieved 26 March 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
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

• John Sissons at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
• Tampa Bay Rowdies profile