Harry Oscroft

Harry Oscroft
Personal information
Full name Harold Oscroft[1]
Date of birth (1926-03-10)10 March 1926[1]
Place of birth Mansfield, England[1]
Date of death 31 December 2008(2008-12-31) (aged 82)
Place of death England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position Left-winger
Youth career
Mansfield Colliery
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Sheffield United 0 (0)
1947–1950 Mansfield Town 113 (41)
1950–1959 Stoke City 326 (103)
1959–1961 Port Vale 47 (12)
Brantham Athletic
Sutton United
Total 486 (156)
Teams managed
Brantham Athletic
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Harry Oscroft (10 March 1926 – 31 December 2008) was an English footballer. A left-winger, he scored over 150 goals in nearly 500 league games in a 14-year career in the Football League.[2]

He played for Mansfield Town for three years, before signing for Stoke City in January 1950. He made 349 appearances and scored 106 goals for the "Potters", before he was traded to Port Vale in September 1959. He left the "Valiants" in May 1961, and later turned out for non-league clubs Brantham Athletic and Sutton United.

Playing career

Oscroft began his career with Mansfield Colliery and served in the Royal Navy from the age of 17.[3] He had trials at Notts County and Sheffield United in 1946.[3] In 1945 he began working at a Nottingham hosiery factory, and was spotted playing football on his lunchtime break by Mansfield Town manager Roy Goodall in February 1947.[3] The "Stags" finished eighth in the Third Division North in 1947–48, tenth in 1948–49, and eighth again in 1949–50. He scored 39 goals in 112 league games during his spell at Field Mill.

In January 1950, at age 23, he joined Stoke City after Bob McGrory offered Mansfield manager Freddie Steele £8,000 plus Verdi Godwin.[4] He scored three goals in 16 First Division games in 1949–50. He hit six goals in 39 appearances in 1950–51, before hitting 10 goals in 44 games in 1951–52. McGrory was then replaced as manager by Frank Taylor. Oscroft hit ten goals in 39 games in 1952–53 to become the club's top scorer, as the "Potters" were relegated into the Second Division after finishing one point behind 20th place Manchester City. He bagged 13 goals in 36 appearances in 1953–54, before hitting 21 goals in 38 games in 1954–55 to become the club's top-scorer for a second time. He hit his first hat-trick for Stoke on 2 October 1954, in a 4–1 win over Lincoln City at Sincil Bank. Oscroft hit 18 goals in 43 games in 1955–56, becoming the club's joint-top-scorer, along with Frank Bowyer and Johnny King. City suffered a six games losing streak in which they failed to find the net late into the 1956–57 campaign, which ultimately cost them promotion; Oscroft still managed 12 goals in 42 appearances throughout the season. He was limited to 22 games and seven goals in 1957–58. He found eight goals in 30 appearances in 1958–59, as Stoke again failed to win promotion. A prolific goalscorer, averaging nearly one goal in every three games during his ten years at the Victoria Ground, he made 349 appearances and scored 106 goals, becoming the club's sixth highest goalscorer of all time (as of 2012).

In September 1959, he was traded to rivals Port Vale, along with Peter Ford, for Dickie Cunliffe and £2,000.[1] He hit seven goals in 29 appearances in 1959–60, including four in the final day of the campaign in a 6–1 hammering of Swindon Town at Vale Park.[1] He scored five goals in 21 Third Division games in 1960–61, and was handed a free transfer by the "Valiants" boss Norman Low in May 1961.[1]

Style of play

Oscroft was known to often go "missing" during games, but could also provide moments of inspiration for his team.[4] He possessed a powerful left foot shot.[4]

Management career and later life

He retired to the Essex/Suffolk border where he became player/manager for Brantham Athletic, with whom he won the Suffolk Senior Cup in 1962.[3] He then played a few games for Sutton United and finally retired from the game completely in 1988 and lived near Colchester.[4]

He died in his sleep on 31 December 2008 after being cared for at home by his family; he had been suffering from Alzheimers for a number of years before he died.

Statistics

Club Season Division League FA Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Mansfield Town 1946–47 Third Division South 12300123
1947–48 Third Division North 4012314313
1948–49 Third Division North 3814334117
1949–50 Third Division North 2312202512
Total 113418412145
Stoke City 1949–50 First Division 16300163
1950–51 First Division 35640396
1951–52 First Division 4010404410
1952–53 First Division 3710203910
1953–54 Second Division 3313303613
1954–55 Second Division 3721103821
1955–56 Second Division 3815524317
1956–57 Second Division 4111114212
1957–58 Second Division 21611227
1958–59 Second Division 28820308
Total 326103234349107
Port Vale 1959–60 Third Division 26710277
1960–61 Third Division 21500215
Total 4712104812
Career Total 486156328518164

Honours

with Brantham Athletic

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 221. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. ↑ "stats". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Matthews, Tony (18 December 2008). The Legends of Stoke City. Derby, United Kingdom: Breedon Books. pp. 136–7. ISBN 978-1-85983-653-8.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Stoke City 101 Golden Greats. Desert Islands Books. 2002. pp. 131–32. ISBN 1-874287554.
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