Kenneth "Ken" Johnson is an English-born footballer who played as an inside forward

Inside forward

In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...

 in the Football League in the 1950s and 1960s, spending his whole senior career with Hartlepools United

Hartlepool United F.C.

Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...

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He was born in Hartlepool

Hartlepool

Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...

 and joined Hartlepools United from local team Seaton Holy Trinity. He made his Pools debut on 31 December 1949 against Bradford City and went on to play 413 matches for the club, with his final appearance coming against Newport County

Newport County A.F.C.

Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...

 on 6 April 1964. He is fourth on the all-time list for most Hartlepool appearances, and the second highest all-time Hartlepool goalscorer, having scored 106 in all competitions. His goals tally includes 6 scored in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

, one of which was against Manchester United on 5 January in the 1956-57 tournament, a day which saw Hartlepools record ever attendance of 17,264.

In 1956 he was chosen to play for the Football League Third Division North

Football League Third Division North

The Third Division North of The Football League was a tier in the English association football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran parallel to Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to one or the other according to geographical position...

 select team for the match against Division Three South

Football League Third Division North vs. South Representative Games

The Third Division North and Third Division South of The Football League was a level in English association football, which ran from 1921 to 1958.From 1954–55 season until 1957–58 season, there was a series of games between teams representing the Third Division North and the Third Division South.-...

, along with his team-mates George Luke

George Luke

George Luke was an English footballer who played as a left-winger for Newcastle United, Hartlepools United and Darlington in the 1950s and early 1960s....

 and Watty Moore

Watty Moore

Watson Evans "Watty" Moore was an English footballer for Hartlepool United. A one-club man, the centre-half held the all-time appearance record for Hartlepool for more than fifty years, making 472 starts for the club between 1948 and 1960...

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