Henry Thickett (born 1872, Hexthorpe

Hexthorpe

Hexthorpe is a small village located on the edge of the town of Doncaster. Hexthorpe lies in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The area's shape resembles a rhombus, with borders with Balby and Doncaster Town Centre, separated by railway lines and the river separating...

, Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

, died 15 November 1920) was a professional 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...

 who won the 1902 FA Cup final with Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

 and made two appearances for England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 in 1899. He was also in the United team which suffered arguably the biggest F A cup upset of the nineteenth century when losing to Burslem Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

 in 1898. He also achieved some success as a football manager with Bristol City.

He played for Bristol City in the 1904-05 season when the club was managed by Sam Hollis. Thickett took over as manager in the summer of 1905 and steered the club to English football’s top flight at the first attempt. The most crucial decision he made was probably the re-signing of Billy Wedlock, who had left the club in 1901. In securing promotion from the English second division as champions in 1906, Bristol City won 14 league matches in a row (equalling a record set by Manchester United the previous year and only matched since by Preston North End and Arsenal).

Bristol City continued to progress under Thickett’s direction. The club ended the 1906-1907 season as runners-up in the first division and Thickett led them to their one and only FA Cup Final appearance against Manchester United in 1909 (a game won 1-0 by Manchester United.)

City then started to slide and Thickett’s tenure as manager came to an end following a 1-0 defeat away to Notts County in October 1910. Thickett’s last game in charge was halted temporarily by the appearance of an aeroplane which caused much excitement amongst the fans. Reverend J W Marsh, the referee, was so distracted by the appearance of the plane (flown by pioneer aviator Paul de Lesseps) that he held-up play for a while and then ended up recalling the players to the field of play (after he had blown the final whistle) because he had forgotten to add the four minutes or so lost because of the hold-up.

Relegated at the end of the 1910-11 season, City didn’t play top-flight football again until 1976.

It is also reported that when Thickett played for Sheffield United in the 1899 FA Cup Final (in which United beat Derby County 4-1), he wore 50 yards of bandages to protect two broken ribs.

Honours

Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

• Football League Division One
  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....
  
  
  • Championship: 1897-98
    1897-98 in English football
    The 1897–98 season was the 27th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...
    
    
  • Runner-up: 1896-97
    1896-97 in English football
    The 1896–97 season was the 26th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Aston Villa became the second team to complete "the Double" of winning the Football League Championship and the FA Cup. No other team would complete the double for 64 years.The Cup Final was played on 10 April...
    
     and 1899-00
    1899-00 in English football
    The 1899–1900 season was the 29th season of competitive football in England.-Events:Chesterfield and Middlesbrough replaced Blackpool and Darwen in the Football League....
    
    

• 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...
  
  
  • Winner: 1899, 1902
  • Finalist: 1901