Henry Edward "Harry" King (1886 – 1968) was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

.

King was born in Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

, Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

 and began his career at Evesham Star and Worcester City

Worcester City F.C.

Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club are currently members of the Conference North and play at St George's Lane.-History:...

, before joining Birmingham

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...

 in 1907. A centre-forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, he played 29 games and scored six goals for the Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 side in two seasons. However, he could not cement a first team place and left in 1909. Over the next five years, he had spells at non-league Crewe Alexandra

Crewe Alexandra F.C.

Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional football club based in Crewe, Cheshire. Nicknamed The Railwaymen due to the town's links with the rail industry, they currently play in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and are based at the Alexandra Stadium.The club...

 and then Northampton Town

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

.

In April 1914 he joined Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, returning to League football. Arsenal had just missed out on promotion on goal average to the First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

, and in 1914-15

1914-15 in English football

The 1914–15 season was the 44th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The 1914 Charity Shield was not contested due to suspension of football during World War I-Events:...

 King spearheaded their attack, scoring 26 goals in the League and another three in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

. These included the very first hat trick

Hat Trick

Hat trick, hat-trick or hattrick may refer to:* hat-trick — in various sports, achieving three goals, wickets, etc. in a single match* Hattrick — online football management game** Hattrick Limited — producers of this game...

 scored at their new Highbury

Arsenal Stadium

Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...

 stadium (against Grimsby Town

Grimsby Town F.C.

Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

 on November 14, 1914), and two four-goal hauls against Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

 and Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

. King's 29 goals that season were an all-time club record at the time, remaining so until Jimmy Brain

Jimmy Brain

James "Jimmy" Brain was an English football player.Born in Bristol, Brain started his career playing in Wales, having an unsuccessful trial at Cardiff City, before gaining a regular place at Ton Pentre. In 1923, he moved to Arsenal, and in his eight years with the Gunners became one of the club's...

 broke it in 1925-26

1925-26 in English football

The 1925–26 season was the 51st season of competitive football in England. This marked the year that Huddersfield Town won the League three years running, making them the first team in Football League history to do so.-Honours:-First Division:...

. However, Arsenal's defence let them down and they only finished fifth, outside of the promotion places; eventually, they were re-elected back to the First Division when football resumed after the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

King had spent the war with the Royal Garrison Artillery

Royal Garrison Artillery

The Royal Garrison Artillery was an arm of the Royal Artillery that was originally tasked with manning the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division, and the guns of the siege...

 in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and also made over 30 appearances in unofficial wartime matches for Arsenal. By the time Arsenal's league campaign resumed in 1919, he was 33 and despite his heroics before the war, Arsenal decided to release him. He had played 39 official first-class matches in all for Arsenal, scoring 29 times. He joined Leicester City

Leicester City F.C.

Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

 (scoring once in eight League appearances) and finished his career at Brentford

Brentford F.C.

Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....

(16 goals in 33 appearances).