Blue & Gold Trust
Official Websitewww.thelinnets.co.uk
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Joe Dines |
Articles on the history of Lynn Football Club tell you that prior to 1914 King's
Lynn Football Club was known as Lynn Town. Now that might be the case – but then
again this photo from 1908 suggests something different, perhaps what the club
was known as, and what it wanted to be called were two different things. Equally
“Linnet” writing in the Eastern Football News in 1922 still referred to the club
as Lynn Town as did Lynn News match reports in the 1950's .
Under the letter K is Lynn half back Joe Dines – the only Lynn player to
have a slate plaque to mark the house where he was born. Joseph Dines was the
youngest of four sons of Frank and Josephine Dines of 4 Whitefriars Terrace. His
early football was with Lynn All Saints and then Lynn United before being
“poached” by Lynn Town. He started in Lynn Reserves and then went on to make his
first team debut on 13 February 1904 against Peterborough Loco in the Dereham
Charity Cup.
He then became a Lynn regular, taking part in Lynn's FA Cup encounter with
Aston Villa in 1906 and receiving his county colours that season. He was also in
the Norfolk team that won the Southern Counties Championship in 1908 and made
appearances for Norwich Reserves and Woolwich Arsenal Reserves. He trained as a
teacher in Peterborough and returned to Lynn – becoming an assistant master at
St Margaret's School in the Millfleet
He took a teaching job at Highlands School, Ilford in 1910 by which time
he had already started on an International career that was to lead to 24 caps
with England's amateurs and had played for Queen's Park Rangers. At the time
Ilford were a renowned amateur team playing, ironically, at Lynn Road, Ilford.
It was in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics that Joe Dines made three
appearances in the Great Britain & Northern Ireland team as they retained the
gold medal won in 1908.
Resisting attempts to persuade him to become professional, he appeared
occasionally for clubs such as Walhamstow Avenue, Millwall and even one
appearance for Liverpool when they visited Chelsea.
He is also reported as still making the occasional appearance for Lynn as
late as the 1913-14 season.
He made 149 appearances for Lynn – scoring 28 goals. One of his brothers
also made a brief appearance for Lynn – in that match Joe lined up with the
opposition – Peterborough College.
Joe volunteered to join the army in November 1915 rising to the rank of
second lieutenant in the King's Liverpool Regiment in June 1918. Often known as
“The Smiling Footballer”, Joe was killed by machine gun fire on 27 September
1918.
With thanks to Richard Taylor for help with this article.
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