Henry Gilhespy Hamilton (1887–1938) was an English professional footballer who played as 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...

 for various clubs in the 1900s and 1910s.

Playing career

He was born in South Shields

South Shields

South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...

 and started his professional career in December 1908 with Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

 before moving to Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town F.C.

Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...

 in April 1910. At Huddersfield he scored ten goals in sixteen league games, plus three in four 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...

 matches; this prolific form attracted the attention of Southern League

Southern Football League

The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...

 Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

’s new manager George Swift

George Harold Swift

George Harold Swift was an English footballer who won the FA Cup with Wolverhampton Wanderers, and was later the first secretary-manager of Southampton.-Playing career:...

. Swift was Southampton’s first appointment as manager and promptly embarked on a spending spree, signing eleven players in six weeks.

Hamilton was immediately drafted into the first team as centre-forward, making his debut on 2 September 1911 at home to Millwall

Millwall F.C.

Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

. He found the net fairly regularly during his one season at The Dell, scoring nine goals in 23 league appearances, thus becoming top-scorer for the 1911–12 season. He had problems settling in the south, however, and in March 1912 was suspended (along with Andrew Gibson

Andrew Gibson (footballer)

Andrew Gibson was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward in the 1910s.-Playing career:Born in Glasgow he was playing for Strathclyde and was attracting the attention of both Celtic and Rangers when he was signed in May 1911 by Southern League Southampton...

) for a serious breach of club discipline, as a result of which he was placed on the transfer list. Following his departure Saints tried several players at centre forward including Cecil Christmas

Cecil Christmas

Edwin Cecil Russell Christmas was an English amateur footballer who played twice for Southampton in 1912.-Playing career:...

 and Leonard Dawe

Leonard Dawe

Leonard Sydney Dawe was an English amateur footballer who played in the Southern League for Southampton between 1912 and 1913, and made one appearance for the England national amateur football team in 1912...

 before finally settling on Percy Prince

Percy Prince

Percy Prince was an English amateur footballer who played as a centre-forward for Southampton and Boscombe in the early 20th century.-Football career:...

.

He moved to Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 to join Belfast Celtic where he spent a year before returning to his native north east where he played out his career with South Shields

South Shields F.C.

South Shields F.C. are a football club based in South Shields, England. They have a long and complicated history, with three distinct incarnations taking the name...

. After 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...

he played no more professional football.