Deacon Dickie Image 1 West Ham United 1931

Description

Glasgow born inside left Dickie Deacon played junior football with Darlington Juniors in 1927 and Cockfield in 1928 and signed for Second Division Wolverhampton Wanderers from Cockfield in 1929, joining Wolves along with his older brother Jimmy. He made his Football League debut at Bury in March 1931, making just 3 appearances before the end of the season for Wolves before joining West Ham United in the summer of 1931.

His opportunities at Upton Park proved similarly limited and after a season in the reserves in 1931-32 he made his debut for The Hammers in August 1932 but played only twice more later the same season before joining Chelsea, where he spent 1933-34 on their books without making a first team appearance. He then moved to Irish League Glentoran in 1934, before returning to Football League action a year later with Northampton Town, with whom he scored once in 4 appearances in 1935-36.

Deacon moved to Lincoln City in the summer of 1936 and had three far more productive seasons at Sincil Bank. In the first he scored 11 goals in 44 matches, missing only two games as Lincoln finished runners up in the Third Division (South), narrowly missing out on promotion. He remained in the team until the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 forced the abandonment of peacetime football and effectively ended his career, having scored 25 goals in 123 appearances for The Imps.

His older brother Jimmy Deacon was also a footballer, playing for Darlington and Wolves, and later Southend United and Hartlepools United.