Biography
Outside right Norman Kitchen joined the Tigers in October 1935 as Jack Hill’s side were struggling at the foot of the Division Two table. Kitchen scored goals in the Midland League for Hull City’s Reserves and when Hill left the club in January 1936 the directors turned to Norman to play on the wing, freeing Cliff Hubbard to play at inside forward. The change had an immediate impact – City had just lost six games in a row and Kitchen scored on his debut against Barnsley, a seventh straight loss, then started the next game in which Plymouth were beaten 1-0 on their home turf. Unfortunately this victory proved a very false dawn, City failed to win any of their remaining sixteen League games and Kitchen made only two further appearances before leaving the club in the 1936 close season.
Norman Kitchen was born in Sunderland and had already enjoyed a varied career around the North East local football scene before he joined Hull City. He started his playing career at Sunderland & District League side Millfield then spent the 1933/34 season at Northern League side Ferryhill Athletic – Kitchen had a short and unsuccessful trial with Sheffield Wednesday in January 1934 and was chosen for a Northern League select XI two months later. Returning to the Sunderland & District League for the 1934/35 season with Pallion Villa, Norman joined Consett-based North Eastern League side Eden Colliery Welfare at the start of the 1935/36 season, where he had a short and impressive spell prior to his move to Anlaby Road.
Kitchen joined Southport in July 1936 and his two seasons on the west coast of England proved to be the most productive of his career. He announced his arrival in grand style in his fifth start in mid-September 1936 against Tranmere Rovers, scoring a hattrick in a 3-3 draw. Norman went on to score 12 goals in 34 starts that season, despite missing nearly three months of football between early October and a Christmas Day return to first team action. He remained first choice at the start of the 1937/38 season, scoring three times in the early weeks before playing less regularly from mid-December onwards. His final two goals for Southport came in April 1938 against Tranmere, a club he enjoyed punishing – in total his two seasons playing for the Sandgrounders yielded 17 goals in 66 starts.
In July 1938 Norman joined Bristol Rovers but his first team action was limited to just two starts in November 1938, after which a knee operation halted his season. Returning to fitness nine months later, Kitchen joined North Eastern League side Workington in July 1939 only for World War Two to bring football to an abrupt halt a few weeks later. Norman spent the first part of the war in Southport where he worked in an ordnance factory and played in wartime fixtures for his former club. Later he joined the Royal Engineers and was involved in the 1944 Normandy Landings. After the War Kitchen moved to Northampton, which is where he died in November 1998.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 26 July 1911, Sunderland
Hull City First Game: 1 February 1936, Barnsley H (Division Two), 24 years, 190 days old
Hull City Final Game: 11 April 1936, Blackpool H (Division Two), 24 years, 260 days old
Clubs
Millfield (1931-1933), Ferryhill Athletic (1933-1934), Pallion Villa (1934-1935), Eden Colliery Welfare (1935), Hull City (1935-1936), Southport (1936-1938), Bristol Rovers (1938-1939), Workington (1939)
Hull City Record
Career: 4 apps, 1 goals
Norman Kitchen| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935/36 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |