565 David Hawker

Biography

Attacking midfielder David Hawker was born and raised in Hull and had a choice between football and rugby league as a teenager. Having cut his teeth with the Schultz youth team, Hawker was handed his first professional contract by Hull City in July 1975 and was voted the Tigers’ apprentice of the year in May 1976. However he had to wait until midway through the 1977/78 season to make his first team debut, by which time he was captain of City’s Reserves side. He made four appearances on the right side of midfield but all four games were lost and full back-turned-midfielder Gordon Nisbet was restored to midfield. Two further appearances for David in April 1977 also ended in defeat for the Tigers.

It wasn’t until February 1979 that Hawker was again given a regular start, this time in Division Three. Hawker was deployed in a deeper lying midfield role and spent the last four months of the season in the first team, opening his goal account with a March 1979 winner against Rotherham United.

Despite starting the 1979/80 season in City’s first team, Hawker dropped out of the picture in September 1979 before returning two months later. David was used across the midfield by manager Ken Houghton and scored his second and final goal for the Tigers against Wimbledon in December 1979 – but Houghton’s side was experiencing a withering winless streak that led to the manager’s dismissal in the days before Christmas 1979. When new manager Mike Smith joined in January 1980 Hawker was not favoured and he left the club two months later.

Hawker joined Division Four side Darlington in March 1980 and immediately slotted into the Quakers’ first team as a right sided midfielder, making his March 1980 against Portsmouth. For two seasons Hawker was a first team regular as Darlington inhabited the middle reaches of the Division Four table. He started the 1982/83 season in the Darlo first team but played his last game against Bury in late October 1982 and left the club two months later having scored three goals in 91 appearances for Darlington.

Hawker joined Northern League side Bishop Auckland in December 1982 and during the next season and a half he rehabilitated his flagging career. He rejoined Division Four side Darlington in August 1984 but after 12 first team appearances – which took his total appearances for the Quakers to 103 over four seasons – Hawker was again out of the first team by December 1984.

In February 1985 he signed for Northern League side Brandon United and helped his new club lift the Northern League Second Division title in April 1985. In November 1986 Hawker moved to divisional rivals Whitley Bay and spent three years on the Tyneside coast, becoming club captain, making 125 appearances and scoring in Bay’s May 1987 victory in the Northumberland Senior Cup final. He moved to Teesside-based Northern League side South Bank in March 1989 and spent the 1989/90 season at the renowned East Middlesbrough amateur side, at which point his playing days ended.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 29 November 1958, Hull
Hull City First Game: 31 December 1977, Sheffield United H (Division Two), 19 years, 32 days old
Hull City Final Game: 21 December 1979, Blackburn Rovers H (Division Three), 21 years, 22 days old

Clubs

Hull City (1975-1980), Darlington (1980-1983), Bishop Auckland (1983-1984), Darlington (1984-1985), Brandon United (1985-1986), Whitley Bay (1986-1989), South Bank (1989-1990)

Hull City Record

Career: 42 apps, 2 goals