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Joe Payne
(1934 - 1938)
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| Born January 17th 1914 (Brinnington Common, Derbyshire). | ||
| Died April 22nd 1975 (Luton) | ||
| Position (Centre Forward) | ||
| League Appearances 72 | ||
| Goals 83 | ||
| Also Played For Chelsea and West Ham United | ||
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Derbyshire born Joe Payne was working at Bolsover Colliery
and playing football for the team there when he was recommended to Luton
in the early 1930`s by an old Lutonian living in the area. Although
he arrived at Kenilworth Road as a strong and bustling centre forward,
he was given a try in different positions and it was found that the
half back position would be where he would best serve the club. Initially
he was farmed out to The Town`s so called "nursery team" Biggleswade
Town. At the beginning of the 1933/34 season he signed as a full time
professional and played regularly at half back in the reserves, making
the odd appearance in the first team. His debut came in what was quite
an amazing game at Southend United on December 29th 1934. The Town were
already 2-0 down when the referee awarded the home side a penalty just
before half time. Tom Mackey disputed the decision with the referee
to such an extent that he got himself sent off. The penalty was converted
to make the score 3-0. But the 10 men fought back in the second half,
and goals by Sam Bell, Wilf Crompton and Fred Roberts earned The Town
a 3-3 draw. Easter Monday, April 13th 1936 would change everything for
this reserve team half back. Injuries to both Jack Ball and Billy Boyd
left The Town short of cover at the centre forward position. Joe was
asked to fill the breach, and was told to get a goal or two if he could.
The record books now show he did somewhat better than that. The Town
won the game 12-0, and Joe scored 10 of the goals. Something that had
never been done before that day or since in the Football League. A record
that will almost certainly stand for ever.
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| This rare newspaper picture, although poor in quality is significant as it is the only picture in existence of Joe Payne scoring one of his ten goals in the game against Bristol Rovers on April 13th 1936 | ||
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The following season, 1936/37 he made the centre forward position his own, and scored 55 goals, a club record for a season, which will surely never be beaten. That tally included five hat-tricks and two four goal games as The Town won the Division 3 South Championship. It all rested on the final game of the season against Torquay United. The Town won 2-0, and Payne scored both goals. (His Championship medal was brought by the club at auction a few years ago and is in the display cabinet in the Eric Morecambe Suite International honours followed, and he won is only England cap in an 8-0 win over Finland on May 20th 1937. Joe scoring two of the England goals. Goals were not quite so easy to come by in Division 2, but he did enough to convince several First Division clubs that he would be up to that standard as well. He moved to Chelsea forv £2,000 in March 1938. As has often been the case before, and since, supporters were left somewhat unhappy that the club had sold its major asset at what appeared to be a knock down price. It had been rumoured the earlier bids from other clubs which were higher had been turned down. He played a season and a half at Chelsea scoring 21 goals in 36 appearances, a decent return. But then his career was interrupted by the war. An injury sustained during the war just about ended his playing days, but not quite. He signed for West Ham United in December 1946 but made just 10 appearances for them before finally retiring. Two of those appearances came over Christmas 1946 when The Town met West Ham in what was in those days a traditional double header when teams met each other on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. West Ham won 2-1 on Christmas Day, the following day The Town won 2-1. Almost inevitably Joe scored in both games. Away from football, he was an excellent cricketer. He played many times for Bedfordshire in the Minor Counties, and turned down the chance at one time to play professionally for Derbyshire. After he retired from football he actually lived in Kenilworth Road for a number of years and was still living in Luton when he died in 1975 at the age of 61. |
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| Joe Payne in action during the game at Crystal Palace on January 9th 1937. He scored twice that day in a 4-0 win for The Town. Bert Dawes and Fred Roberts scored the other goals | ||
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| It is the penultimate game of the 1936/37 season played on April 24th. The Town won 5-0. Joe Payne is seen here scoring one of his three goals that day. Bert Dawes and George Stephenson scored the other goals. Fred Roberts is the other Luton player in the picture | ||