Providing a list of the best strikers is a little easier than doing so for midfielders or defenders in the sense that they can be judged according to how many goals they have scored. That’s not the whole picture of course, but a forward who doesn’t convert chances is unlikely to survive for long. Leicester City have had some great strikers over the years. Today, number 4.
Ernie Hine is, without doubt, one of the very best strikers who has played for Leicester City. The former miner was signed for £3,000 from Barnsley as a 25-year-old by Peter Hodge as he looked to build a team capable of competing in the top-flight. And what a signing it was. Ernie had already shown his goalscoring prowess by netting 81 times in 161 games for the Yorkshire side. He kept up this phenomenal scoring record by netting 156 times for the Foxes in 259 appearances between 1926 and 1932, a goal every one and a half games. This included 148 goals in 247 league games. He is fourth on the list of Leicester’s record goal scorers.
The Foxes more than held their own in the First Division finishing eight, third and second in the 1920s. The Yorkshireman, as an inside right, formed a legendary forward line with Arthur Chandler and Arthur Lochhead with the trio netting a total of 332 First Division goals. Ernie alone scored 20 league goals in 2027/8 when the Foxes finished third and 32 goals in 35 matches in the 1928/9 season when they finished as runners up. In the latter, he memorably hit four in one game in the Foxes record 10-0 mauling of Portsmouth (see John Hutchinson's account of the period here). Hine won six England caps during his time at Filbert Street scoring four goals, a club record before Jamie Vardy came along.
Ernie played for Huddersfield and Manchester United after leaving Filbert Street (Leicester surprisingly letting him go in 1932) before returning to Barnsley where he finished his career. He remains the Yorkshire side’s record goal scorer. Hine scored over 300 goals in a 17-year career and is the 18th top scorer in the history of English league football.
After retiring from the game, Ernie worked in a brickworks back in Yorkshire. He died, at the age of 73, in April 1974. His granddaughter, talking to Leicester City historian John Hutchinson, revealed that Ernie ran a pub when he was a player at Barnsley. The Yorkshire club’s board probably allowed him to do so in order to keep him sweet. As I wrote in an earlier post, the Leicester board didn’t have the same enlightened view when it came to Johnny Duncan. Ernie’s wife ran the pub when he moved to Leicester.
More on Friday.