Date of Birth
18 Aug 1908
Birthplace
Coleraine
Nationality
Northern Irish
Signed for LFC
1933
LFC Debut
26 Aug 1933
LFC Appearances
50
LFC Goals
26
International Caps
2
International Goals
1
English was a powerful centre-forward who joined Liverpool from Rangers before the start of the 1933-34 season.
He broke Rangers' scoring record in the 1931-32 season with 44 league goals but his accidental collision with Celtic goalkeeper, John Thomson, on September 5, 1931 changed English's life forever.
Thomson's head collided with English's knee which ruptured an artery in his right temple which led to Thomson's death.
Trying to overcome his part in the tragedy, English made a blistering start to his Anfield career and by the halfway stage of the league season he had already scored 16 times. But he only started eight matches during the second-half of the season, scoring a further four times.
Although not selected on the opening day of the following season, he then had a run of 11 consecutive matches in which he hit the net three times before losing his place in the side. His appearances after that were restricted and he played his final game for Liverpool in the penultimate First Division fixture of the 1934-35 season, away to Tottenham.
Despite being in and out of the team, he still finished with a good goals-per-game record of 26 strikes from exactly 50 matches.
English returned to Scotland with Queen of the South before finishing his career at Hartlepool at the age of 28. His Rangers' teammate, Bob McPhail, paid him the ulitmate praise: "Though I never played with the great Dixie Dean of Everton, I did play against him. I would have taken English before him."
Other clubs:
Yoker Athletic, Rangers, Queen of the South, Hartlepools Utd, Duntocher Hibernian