Biography
Outside left Hedley joined City from Northern Eastern League side Jarrow in May 1928, having impressed for half a season playing for the Tynesiders’ first eleven. He vied with Midlander Billy Taylor and teenage Scotsman Dally Duncan for the outside left berth but managed only two first team starts in October 1928. Hedley left the Tigers in May 1929.
Foster Hedley was born in South Shields and raised by his father, who was a clerk in a local shipyard, in an agreeable Tyneside flat. Foster first came to footballing prominence during the 1926/27 season when the teenage Hedley played in the South Tyneside Church League for newly formed club St Andrew’s Presbyterians. Foster scored numerous goals for St Andrew’s including six in one April 1927 match. He joined North Eastern League side Jarrow in the summer of 1927 and after half a season playing in the Reserves he joined the first team in January 1928 and continued to score goals. It was this form that led the Tigers to claim Hedley’s signature at the end of the 1927/28 season.
Foster joined Lancashire-based Division Three North side Nelson in May 1929 and in a season at Seedhill he proved himself to be an effective senior-level attacking force. After five goals in 27 starts for Nelson he joined Division One side Manchester City in March 1930 and started two top flight games in late March and early April 1930, scoring on both occasions against Sheffield United and Birmingham. However this early promise was blunted in the 1930/31 season as Hedley failed to make the first team.
In July 1931 Mr Charles Hewitt, the manager of Division Three North side Chester, pulled off a considerable coup when he lured Hedley from top flight side Manchester City to the banks of the River Dee. Foster scored on his August 1931 debut against Wigan Borough, although that result and goal was subsequently expunged when Wigan went bust a few weeks later and dropped out of the League. His first official goal for Chester therefore came in September 1931 when he struck a brace against Halifax Town and he continued to impress, having once again secured a regular first team start as Chester narrowly missed out on promotion. Another promotion campaign in the 1932/33 season also fell slightly short, though no one could fault Hedley for his contribution – he netted 22 goals that season, the best haul of his career, including hattricks in successive January 1933 matches against Fulham in the FA Cup and Accrington Stanley in the League. Hattricks in successive matches were a rare event at the time, rarer still when scored by a player deployed on the left wing.
Hedley continued his form into the 1933/34 season and by the end of October 1933 he had scored 38 goals in 96 appearances for Chester. In November 1933 he transferred to Division One side Tottenham Hotspur, once again trying his luck in the top division. A Spurs debut in April 1934 against Sheffield Wednesday was followed by four starts during the 1934/35 season that yielded his only Spurs goal, in October 1934 against Leicester City. Hedley remained at White Hart Lane for two more seasons and was a popular figure in the Reserves side, but didn’t add to his five senior appearances.
In November 1936 Division Three South side Millwall first showed interest in signing Hedley from Tottenham – Millwall were managed by Charles Hewitt, the man that lured Foster to Chester in 1931. Millwall eventually got their man in June 1937 but by the end of September 1937 he was dropped to the Reserves. He returned to first team action at the end of the 1937/38 season and netted twice in April 1938 against Swindon Town, ending the season with four goals in nine starts. A similar pattern emerged in the 1938/39 season and when Hedley left Millwall in May 1939 he had scored six goals in 13 appearances.
He joined Division Three South side Swindon Town in May 1939 and started the Robins’ last game of the season against Torquay United, which turned out to be his only first team appearance for the club. The 1939/40 season was rapidly abandoned due to the outbreak of World War Two, Hedley remained with Swindon and played in hastily arranged wartime fixtures until April 1940. During the War he occasionally played in wartime matches for his former club Millwall before hanging up his boots in the early 1940s.
After the war Hedley lived in Wembley in North West London, where he died in December 1983.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 6 January 1908, Monkseaton
Hull City First Game: 13 October 1928, Reading H (Division Two), 20 years, 281 days old
Hull City Final Game: 20 October 1928, Stoke City H (Division Two), 20 years, 288 days old
Clubs
St Andrews Newcastle (1926-1927), Jarrow (1927-1928), Hull City (1928-1929), Nelson (1929-1930), Manchester City (1930-1931), Chester (1931-1933), Tottenham Hotspur (1933-1937), Millwall (1937-1939), Swindon Town (1939-1940)
Hull City Record
Career: 2 apps, 0 goals
Foster Hedley| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928/29 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |