*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Freddie Kearns
Appearances: 159 Goals: 97
Date / Year of birth: 8th November 1927
Position: Striker
Season of first appearance: 1957/58
Season of last appearance: 1960/61
Also played for: Shamrock Rovers (Ireland), West Ham United (45,15), Norwich City (30,14), Tonbridge and Deal Town
Prolific, whole-hearted 5' 11" tall striker born in Cork, Ireland who only started playing football aged 16, concentrating on hurling prior to that. Freddie began his career with Irish side Shamrock Rovers before joining West Ham in May 1948.
He went on to make 45 appearances for the Hammers and scored 15 times in all competitions during a six year stay at Upton Park. During the 1953/54 season Freddie gained an international cap for Eire when he played in a World Cup Qualifier against Luxembourg.
In June 1954 he joined Norwich for the handsome fee of £9,000. Freddie went on to play 30 games for the Canaries and scored 14 times before dropping into non-league football to join Tonbridge at the end of the 1955/56 campaign.
He scored 12 goals in 54 appearances for the Angels during 1956/57 and usually played as an inside left with future Aston Villa manager Ron Saunders wearing Tonbridge's number nine shirt. Freddie worked as a window cleaner at the time.
In the summer of 1957 he joined Margate and Freddie made an immediate impact by scoring a hat-trick on his debut - a 5-0 win at Ashford in the Kent League on 24.8.57. He also bagged three goals in a 6-1 home win over Sheppey on 26.12.57 and in total scored 30 times during the 1957/58 season. One of his goals came in Margate's 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace in an FA Cup 1st Round tie on 16.11.57.
During 1958/59 Freddie notched up 27 goals in 48 games and he was joint top scorer with Tony Spink. He managed three hat-tricks including back-to-back trebles in a 9-5 home win over Chatham on 4.10.58 and a 5-1 win at Ramsgate on 11.10.58. It would be almost 30 years before another player would emulate the feat and Freddie might have scored more goals but for the fact that he played numerous games at full-back and in midfield. Freddie also had a few games on the right wing during which the local press said that he "cantered around like an exultant stag". Early in the season he'd suffered concussion during a match against Ramsgate on 4.9.58 and Freddie played the entire second half with the problem. Afterwards he couldn't remember anything about those 45 minutes and didn't even know that Margate had won the game 2-1. However Freddie played again just two days later. He was also part of the Margate side that lost 3-2 at Headington in the FA Cup 1st Round on 15.11.58.
The 1959/60 season was a superb one for Freddie as he scored 39 times in his 51 first team appearances. On 14.11.59 he got the Margate goal in a 1-1 draw at Kettering in the FA Cup 1st Round and Freddie then got all three in the replay at Hartsdown Park on 19.11.59 that Margate won 3-2. He was in the side that drew 0-0 with visitors Crystal Palace in the 2nd Round on 5.12.59 and also played in the replay at Selhurst Park on 9.12.59 that the Eagles won 3-0.
Freddie scored three other hat-tricks, hit all four goals in a 4-1 win over Bexleyheath & Welling on 24.10.59 and then surpassed himself by scoring five times in a 6-1 Southern League win over Trowbridge at Hartsdown Park on 30.1.60. He was described as "having the biggest heart in the world" by the local press and in its end of season review the East Kent Times wrote "Without a doubt, if Margate had not had such a stalwart player as Freddie Kearns they would have been in a sorry state. After Christmas, when outside-left (Ken) Tucker was rarely 100 per cent fit, it was generally Kearns - and Kearns alone - who ever looked like scoring".
Freddie never managed to gain a regular first team place during the 1960/61 season despite his scoring exploits and he spent the majority of the campaign in the reserves. That was mainly due to the signing of Alan Brown but the local press felt that Freddie should still have been Margate's first-choice centre-forward. As it was he only made 15 first team appearances and many of them were at left-back. Freddie scored just once during the season - in a 3-3 draw with Kettering at Hartsdown on 27.8.60 - and in the summer of 1961 he was released. During his time at Hartsdown he'd been known as a real character in the dressing room.
After leaving Margate Freddie was offered terms by Canterbury but turned them down. Later in the 1961/62 season he joined Deal and played for them during the 1962/63 campaign too before retiring.
After that Freddie had little to do with football, aside from spells coaching Margate County Youth Club FC in the mid 1960's and Sunday League side Quarterdeck in the early 1970's.
However he made a brief return to senior football when he became assistant manager of Ramsgate in July 1980. He was former Margate player Graham Sawyer's right-hand man until October 1980 when Sawyer was sacked.
In October 1985 the Thanet Times mentioned that Freddie had paid a rare visit to Hartsdown Park to watch Thanet United beat Dorchester 5-0. He was quoted as saying "there is so little atmosphere in the ground nowadays" - the attendance was just 142 - and was described as being "one of the most popular players ever to wear a Margate shirt".
Freddie was a radio mechanic for many years and finished his working life at RAF Manston.
His son John had a spell with Margate during the 1970/71 and 1971/72 seasons.
Freddie sadly died suddenly on 7.1.87, the day before his 60th birthday. He'd been living in Margate at the time. The Isle of Thanet Gazette's Dave Cooper paid tribute to him, saying that Freddie was "as brave a centre-forward as any East Kent soccer fan has ever seen." He went on to say that Freddie "never admitted defeat on the field until the final whistle had gone and many of his goals came from what appeared to be hopeless situations."
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1957/58 (MFC) |
45 (48) |
N/A |
30 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (2ND OF 18) |
1R |
SF |
RU |
SF |
|
|
Played and
scored in FA Cup 1st Round (16.11.57 - lost 3-2 to Crystal Palace
at home). Played in Kent League Cup Final (10.05.58 - lost 3-0 to Deal Town). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
TMC |
|
1958/59 (MFC) |
48 (51) |
N/A |
27 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (5TH OF 18) |
1R |
3R |
RU |
1R |
GR |
|
Played in FA Cup 1st Round
(15.11.58 - lost 3-2 at Headington United). Played in Kent League Cup Final (07.05.59 - lost 3-2 to Sittingbourne). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
SLC |
KSC |
KSS |
|
|
1959/60 (MFC) |
51 (57) |
N/A |
39 |
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (7TH OF 22) |
2R |
1R |
RU |
SF |
|
|
Played and
scored in FA Cup 1st Round (14.11.59 - drew 1-1 at
Kettering). Played and scored hat-trick in FA Cup 1st Round replay (19.11.59 - beat Kettering 3-2 at home). Played in FA Cup 2nd Round (05.12.59 - drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace at home). Played in FA Cup 2nd Round replay (09.12.59 - lost 3-0 at Crystal Palace). Played in Kent Senior Cup Final (18.04.60 - drew 0-0 with Dover). Played in Kent Senior Cup Final replay (28.04.60 - lost 1-0 to Dover). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
SLC |
KSC |
KSS |
|
|
1960/61 (MFC) |
15 (50) |
N/A |
1 |
SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (15TH OF 21) |
4QR |
2R |
2R |
1R |
|