Kevin Hector
Kevin James Hector ( born November 2, 1944 in Leeds ) is a former English footballer.
Playing career
Bradford Park Avenue
Kevin Hector began his career in 1962 with the English third division side Bradford Park Avenue and went straight into the fourth league. In this league, he distinguished himself as a scorer, scoring 1962-1966 in 176 league games 113 goals.
Derby County
In September 1966 Hector moved to the English second division club Derby County and made his debut on September 17, 1966 in a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace. With the arrival of new coach Brian Clough at the beginning of the 1967/68 season the most successful period in their history was begun. In the Second Division in 1968/69 Derby succeeded after 16 years to return to the First Division. The start in the English top flight began in the season 1969/70 with fourth place very successfully. After a ninth place 1970/71 Derby County won the Football League First Division 1971/72 the first league title in club history. After his teammates Alan Hinton and John O'Hare proved Hector (42 Spiele/12 goals) as more accurate player. In the 1972/73 season County was unable to repeat this success with 7th place, but the team was able to semi-finals of the European Cup of Champions 1972/73. After inter alia, in the 2nd round, Benfica was defeated, was waiting in the semifinals of the Italian champions Juventus. After a 1-3 defeat in Turin, Derby retired after a 0-0 home from the competition, favoring and so missed the final against Ajax Amsterdam. Hector scored four goals during the current competition and thus became top scorer of his team.
At the beginning of the 1973/74 season, the board separated under turbulent circumstances of coach Brian Clough, who hired the former player Dave Mackay as his successor. Mackay reached County in 1974 a third place and led the team in the Football League First Division 1974/75 to the second championship in club history. Kevin Hector (38 Spiele/13 goals) scored after Bruce Rioch the most hits and so contributed its share to the title ahead of Liverpool at. The second launch in the European Cup of Champions 1975/76 already ended in the 2nd round. Derby failed after two legendary games with 4:1 and 1:5 after extra time at the Spanish champions Real Madrid. The performances in the league worsened after a fourth place 1975/76 in the following two years significantly.
In 1978, Kevin Hector Derby decided to leave after twelve successful years. He joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in the North American Soccer League and won there in 1979 by a 2-1 final win against the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the title. In 1980 he returned to Derby County who were previously 1979/80 relegated from the Football League First Division in the second division. In 1982, he finally ended his professional career and was active in the following years for some amateur clubs.
England national team
Kevin Hector made his debut at the age of 28 years in the England team. On October 17, 1973 he played in the qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 1974 in Germany in the decisive match against Poland its first international match. Hector was brought on by coach Alf Ramsey at 1-1 for Martin Chivers, but failed with a chance at the Polish goalkeeper Tomaszewski in January and stepped down from the quality of England. On November 14, 1973 he played at 0-1 against Italy his second and last international match.