Biography
Utility forward and half back Henry “Harry” Simmon joined the Tigers in July 1905 ahead of the club’s first season in the Football League. Simmon was born and raised in the mining villages west of Durham City, his father was a railway signalman and then later a weighman at the local colliery. Harry also worked as a weighman and lived in the settlement now known as New Brancepeth on the fringes of Durham. He joined his local football club Bearpark in 1896 and had served them for eight years prior to joining successful Northern Alliance side Leadgate Park in 1904. In the 1904/05 season Leadgate Park won the Durham Senior Cup and Simmon contributed regular goals, so his pedigree as a goalscorer in his mid-20s fitted the needs of Hull City well.
Harry made his City debut at the end of September 1905 and by early November he had made seven starts in the outside right position without scoring. His place in the side was handed to Lincolnshire born winger Jack Manning and Simmon made just three more appearances during the rest of the season, showing his versatility by starting in three different positions. This versatility defined the rest of his time at City – over the next two seasons Harry had three starts at outside right in April 1907, then five starts at right half in October and November 1907. Though Simmon remained with the Tigers for a further ten years, he didn’t make any further senior appearances. Living in a neat terrace house off Hessle Road, Harry was a stalwart for the City Reserves, captaining the side for five seasons then coaching the City Juniors and managing the Tigers’ A team. The Tigers awarded Harry a benefit match against Sheffield Wednesday in October 1912. During World War One Simmon made eleven appearances in wartime games between January 1916 and March 1917, scoring two goals against Sheffield United and Lincoln City. His association with the club ended in 1917, he played for local league side Hull Old Boys in the 1919/20 season.
Simmon began working as a foreman for a firm of Hull canal carriers in 1916 and by the early 1920s he had acquired four lighters, the hand-propelled barges used to transport goods from moored sea-going vessels to various parts of the Hull docklands. In June 1926 he was declared bankrupt when it became apparent that he was over £2,000 in debt thanks to the failure of his business and a lavish lifestyle lived well beyond his means. In 1938 he was settled in the Newland Avenue area of Hull and working as a clerk for the Hull cargo superintendents when his first wife died – he married again within six months. He retired in 1949 and died in Hull in February 1951 after suffering a stroke.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 23 March 1879, Bearpark
Hull City First Game: 23 September 1905, Leeds City A (Division Two), 26 years, 184 days old
Hull City Final Game: 9 November 1907, Glossop A (Division Two), 28 years, 231 days old
Clubs
Bearpark (1896-1904), Leadgate Park (1904-1905), Hull City (1905-1917), Hull Old Boys (1919-1920)
Hull City Record
Career: 18 apps, 0 goals
Harry Simmon| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905/06 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1906/07 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1907/08 | 5 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1908/09 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1909/10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1910/11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1911/12 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1912/13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1913/14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1914/15 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |