Bernard Hackett is a former English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional footballer. He played in The Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 for Chester

Chester City F.C.

Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...

 in the 1950s.

Playing career

Although born in Ramsbottom, Hackett grew up in the West Midlands. As a youngster he represented Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

 at county level and Birmingham City's

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 junior side before joining Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

. He turned professional in 1953 but left two years later without making a league appearance.

Hackett was one of several forwards to sign for Chester in the summer of 1955, as manager Louis Page

Louis Page

Louis Antonio Page was an England international football player and football manager. He was the younger brother of Tom Page.-Club career:Page began his senior career with Merseyside clubs Everton and South Liverpool...

 also purchased Charlie Jolley, George Allman, Jack Haines

Jack Haines

John Thomas William "Jack" Haines was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward. During his playing career, Haines made over 300 appearances in the Football League, and earned one cap for the English national side in 1948.-Club career:Born in Evesham, Haines moved from...

, Jim Collins and Frank Wayman

Frank Wayman

Frank Wayman was an English footballer. Born in Bishop Auckland, Wayman began his career in professional football as a winger with Preston North End in 1953, but never made any appearances for Preston's first team. In 1955, he joined Chester City, where he spent one season, playing 30 league games...

. The competition for places and a knee injury meant Hackett was not a regular in the side and he was released in the summer of 1957.

After leaving Chester, Hackett dropped into non-league football and played for Lockheed Leamington

Leamington F.C.

Leamington Football Club is the main football club in Whitnash, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, currently playing in the Southern Football League Premier Division....

, Halesowen Town

Halesowen Town F.C.

Halesowen Town is an English association football club formed in 1873, since 2011 playing in the Southern League Division One South & West]]. The team is nicknamed "The Yeltz".-History:...

 and Cradley Town

Cradley Town F.C.

Cradley Town Football Club is a football club based in Halesowen, near Dudley, in the West Midlands.-History:The club was originally formed in 1970 as Albion Haden United following a merger between Haden Rangers and Albion Rovers, changing its name in 1975.In 1971 the club joined the Midland...

while working in the building trade.