Biography

Full back Joe Potts signed for the Tigers in March 1912 but had to wait a full year for his first team debut thanks to the consistency of Tommy Nevins in the right back position. Four starts in March 1913 were followed by a solitary start on the last day of the 1913/14 season, which drew Potts’ City career to a close.
Joseph “Joe” Potts was born and raised in the Shieldfield district immediately east of Newcastle city centre to a father who worked as a plumber. Joe himself also worked as a plumber while playing local football for New York United. In October 1911 he transferred to Northern Alliance side Ashington and within five months his hard working approach to the game had attracted the attention of Hull City’s considerable scouting network in the North East.
Potts joined Southern League side Portsmouth in July 1914 but after one season at Fratton Park football drew to a close due to World War One. Joe returned to Portsmouth in 1919/20, the season that Pompey won the Southern League and were elected to the Second Division. Potts therefore returned to the senior game in August 1920, seven years after his last senior start for City, and made six senior appearances in the 1920/21 season. In August 1921 he transferred to Leeds United but again he was used as a reserve player. His Leeds debut came in December 1921 against Crystal Palace and he made nine further appearances in the following 1922/23 season.
In June 1923 he joined Division Three North side Chesterfield and at the age of 34 finally managed to secure a regular first team place in senior football. An ever present in his first season with the Spireites, Potts started the 1924/25 season in the first team before again dropping into the reserves in September 1924. His final Chesterfield appearance in April 1925 took his tally for the club to 56, in June 1925 he transferred to Division Three North rivals Bradford Park Avenue. A first team regular for the first half of the 1925/26 season, Potts again resumed his support role for another year and a half making 42 appearances for Bradford before he retired in May 1927 at the venerable age, for a footballer of that era, of 38.
Potts remained in the Bradford and Leeds area, by 1939 he was a publician living in the Hawksworth suburb of North West Leeds between Headingley and Horsforth. He died in Leeds at the end of 1980 at the ripe old age of 91.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 25 February 1889, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hull City First Game: 8 March 1913, Leeds City A (Division Two), 24 years, 11 days old
Hull City Final Game: 25 April 1914, Barnsley H (Division Two), 25 years, 59 days old
Clubs
New York United, Ashington (1911-1912), Hull City (1912-1914), Portsmouth (1914-1921), Leeds United (1921-1923), Chesterfield (1923-1925), Bradford Park Avenue (1925-1927)
Hull City Record
Career: 5 apps, 0 goals
Joe PottsSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1911/12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
1912/13 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
1913/14 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |