481 Roy Shiner

Biography

Powerful and experienced centre forward Roy Shiner joined the Tigers in November 1959 in return for a £6,000 fee, a substantial sum for a player 34 years old. When Shiner signed City were in the throes of a dreadful winless run that had marooned them in the Second Division relegation zone, but Roy halted that decline on his debut by scoring twice in a 3-1 victory over Bristol Rovers. Shiner scored again in two further 3-1 victories over Brighton in November and Sunderland in December, and his fee looked like money well spent. Alas the improvement proved temporary and in 13 games between mid-December 1959 and mid-March 1960 City won just once and Shiner scored just once. City were now adrift at the foot of the table and while a revival from mid-March onwards yielded just one defeat and four wins in the last nine league matches of the season, which featured three more goals from Roy, City were unable to avoid relegation. Playing in Division Three for the 1960/61 season, Shiner was deposed as City’s centre forward by the 17 year old Chris Chilton and he left the club in the 1961 close season.

Roy Albert James Shiner was born at Ryde on the Isle of Wight in the mid-1920s. Like most footballers of his era his football education was severely hampered by the advent of World War Two, which unpicked established youth team structures and severely reduced the amount of competitive football played. Shiner played local football for Ryde Sports and represented Hampshire at county level before joining Cheltenham Town on amateur terms in February 1949. He signed a professional contract the following August and soon began to score heavily for the Southern League side – 37 goals in the 1950/51 season and 22 more goals in the opening four months of the 1951/52 season. By December 1951 Roy’s goalscoring exploits were sufficient to encourage First Division side Huddersfield Town to pay £1,250 for his services and he made his Terriers’ debut on Christmas Day 1951. He was given eight more starts during the rest of the season that yielded no goals, with Huddersfield struggling at the foot of the First Division and Shiner adjusting to a much higher level of football.

Huddersfield were relegated to the Second Division in May 1952 and Roy was used sparingly during the 1952/53 season as Town won promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt. That said, Shiner made six starts in the closing weeks of the season and scored five goals including a hattrick against Plymouth on the last day of the season. He made just five starts in the 1953/54 season as Huddersfield finished third in the First Division largely thanks to the goals of centre forward Jimmy Glazzard. Shiner played just one first team game in the 1954/55 season and after a glitzy wedding in Huddersfield during March 1955 he joined Sheffield Wednesday the following August in a swap deal that saw Roy plus his Town teammate and former England international defender Ron Staniforth move to Hillsborough, while winger Jackie Marriott and full back Tony Conwell went in the reverse direction. Shiner had made 21 appearances in four seasons at Huddersfield and scored six goals.

At Sheffield Wednesday Shiner rediscovered the form and consistency that had eluded him since his time at Cheltenham four years previously. In the 1955/56 season Shiner started every game and scored 33 goals as the Owls secured the Second Division title – he again rounded off the season with a hattrick on the last day against Lincoln City. Back in the First Division, Roy continued to excel, scoring eight goals in the first six league games and finishing the season with 16 goals in all competitions as Wednesday finished in mid table. Shiner added another 16 goals in the 1957/58 season as Wednesday were relegated back to Division Two, then repeated his form from three years earlier by netting 28 times in the 1958/59 season as the Owls again won the Second Division title. At the start of the 1959/60 season Shiner was back in the top flight and started the opening nine League games for Wednesday before Hull City offered a fee that the Owls’ board couldn’t refuse. He left the Hillsborough side having scored 96 goals in 160 appearances.

In July 1961 Shiner once again joined Cheltenham Town and scored regularly during the 1961/62 season despite Town finishing bottom of the Southern League Premier Division table, before hanging up his boots during the 1962 close season. He returned to the Isle of Wight once his playing days ended and managed three local sides in Newport, Seaview and St Helens. He lived in Ryde until his death in October 1988.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 15 November 1924, Ryde
Hull City First Game: 7 November 1959, Bristol Rovers H (Division Two), 34 years, 357 days old
Hull City Final Game: 30 April 1960, Ipswich Town H (Division Two), 35 years, 167 days old

Clubs

Ryde Sports (1946-1949), Cheltenham Town (1949-1951), Huddersfield Town (1951-1955), Sheffield Wednesday (1955-1959), Hull City (1959-1961), Cheltenham Town (1961-1962)

Hull City Record

Career: 23 apps, 8 goals

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