Full name Hugh Edward Holdcroft Position Forward, Defender Role Footballer | Name Ted Holdcroft Date of birth c. 1882 | |
Place of birth Stoke-upon-Trent, England Date of death 4 February 1952(1952-02-04) (age 69-70) Place of death Norton le Moors, England Playing position Died February 4, 1952, Norton le Moors, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom | ||
Hugh Edward Holdcroft (c. 1882 – 4 February 1952) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Burslem Port Vale and Stoke in the early 1900s.
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Playing career
Holdcroft joined Burslem Port Vale in October 1901. His debut came at centre-half in a goalless draw with Preston North End at the Athletic Ground on 8 September 1902. He scored his first goal in the Football League on 25 October, converting a penalty in a 3–3 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor. He became a first team regular for the Second Division side from the next month until he suffered a toe injury in February 1903 and transferred to local rivals Stoke in March 1903. At £500 this was a club record for Stoke.
Holdcroft was converted into a centre forward at the Victoria Ground with mixed success. He hit two goals in a 5–2 win over Liverpool on 17 October 1903, and opened the 1905–06 season with a goal in each of the first three First Division games, but other than these highlights he proved to be far from a natural goalscorer and in three seasons he scored 11 goals in 44 appearances. After retiring due to an ankle injury and later suffering a serious illness that prevented him finding a job, Vale and Stoke held a benefit match on his behalf on 29 April 1907; the game finished 1–1. This would prove to be Burslem Port Vale's final ever match, as the club were dissolved, only to re-emerge later in the year when Cobridge Church renamed themselves Port Vale F.C.