Martyn King
{{Short description|English footballer (1937–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Martyn King
| image =
| fullname = Martyn Noel Geoffrey King
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1937|8|23}}
| birth_place = Birmingham, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2019|12|25|1937|8|23}}
| height =
| position = Forward
| years1 = 1956–1964
| clubs1 = Colchester United
| caps1 = 212
| goals1 = 130
| years2 = 1964–1966
| clubs2 = Wrexham
| caps2 = 45
| goals2 = 15
| nationalyears1 =
| nationalteam1 =
| nationalcaps1 =
| nationalgoals1 =
| club-update = 19:45, 28 March 2012 (UTC)
| ntupdate =
}}
Martyn Noel Geoffrey King (23 August 1937 – 25 December 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward.
Career
King signed for Colchester United from local side Pegasus in 1956, but it was not until 1959, when he was on the verge of completing National Service that he was available for every game. He responded by equalling Kevin McCurley's 30 League goals in a season club record including a trio of hat tricks. In total, he notched six hat-tricks in U's colours.
On 30 December 1961, after a 4–1 Boxing Day defeat at Bradford City, United set their club record victory in the return fixture, with both King and his strike partner Bobby Hunt scoring four goals each as the Colchester ran out 9–1 winners. He was a member of Colchester's outstanding 1961–62 promotion-winning team, which was also the highest-scoring team in the U's history, as Colchester hit the net 104 times in 44 league games and King struck up a prolific understanding with Hunt. The pair scored nearly 200 goals between them in under four seasons, before Hunt moved to Northampton Town in 1964.{{cite web
| title = Birthday boy Martyn was a goalscoring King
| date = 23 August 2012
| url = http://www.gazette-news.co.uk/sport/headlines/9890607.Birthday_boy_Martyn_was_a_goalscoring_King/?
| publisher = Colchester Gazette
| accessdate = 23 August 2012}}
In 1964, King was sold to Wrexham by Colchester manager Neil Franklin, where he scored 15 goals in 45 league appearances.{{cite web
|title=The U's History: The 60s
|url=http://www.cu-fc.com/page/History/0,,10424~1320513,00.html
|publisher=Colchester United F.C.
|accessdate=28 March 2012
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213231027/http://www.cu-fc.com/page/History/0%2C%2C10424~1320513%2C00.html
|archivedate=13 February 2012
}}
King holds the Colchester United record for most league goals (130 between 1959 and 1965) and jointly holds the record for most goals scored in a match (4 - shared with Bobby Hunt and Chris Iwelumo).{{cite web
| title = Facts And Records
| url = http://www.cu-fc.com/page/ClubInfo/0,,10424~1015958,00.html
| publisher = Colchester United F.C.
| accessdate = 28 March 2012}} He also jointly holds the record for most hat-tricks scored (5 - shared with Arthur Pritchard, Arthur Turner and Tony Adcock).{{cite web
| title = Hat-tricks for Colchester United
| url = http://www.coludaybyday.co.uk/Statistics/Player%20Stats/PlayerHatTricks.html
| publisher = Coludaybyday.co.uk
| accessdate = 28 March 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120323143103/http://www.coludaybyday.co.uk/Statistics/Player%20Stats/PlayerHatTricks.html
| archive-date = 23 March 2012
| url-status = dead
}}
After football
King taught Mathematics at his old school, Earls Colne Grammar School until it closed in 1975. He then moved to teach at Ramsey School, Halstead.
In December 2008, King was due to be Colchester's guest for a game with Scunthorpe United, but a ruptured aortic aneurysm left him seriously ill with severe bleeding to his stomach. He was later allowed home to begin his path back to full health.{{cite web
| title = Martyn On The Road To Recovery
| url = http://www.cu-fc.com/page/News/0,,10424~1519673,00.html
| publisher = Colchester United F.C.
| accessdate = 28 March 2012}}
King died on 25 December 2019, aged 82.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-50948321|title=Colchester United's record goalscorer Martyn King dies|work=BBC News|date=30 December 2019}}
Honours
=Club=
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{NeilBrownPlayers|player7/martynking}}
- {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323133858/http://coludata.co.uk/player.asp?pid=219 |date=23 March 2012 |title=Martyn King at Coludata.co.uk }}
{{Colchester United F.C. Hall of Fame}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Martyn}}
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:English men's footballers
Category:Colchester United F.C. players
Category:Wrexham A.F.C. players
Category:English Football League players