Links With The Past: Adcock’s Passport For England’s Matches In Europe
Between 1923 and 1935, outside-right Hugh Adcock, like Mark Wallington, made 460 appearances for the Club, during which time he scored 52 goals. Only two players, Graham Cross and Adam Black, played more first team games for Leicester City.
In May 1929, just after City had finished runners-up in the Football League, Hugh won five England caps, scoring one goal.
His first three international matches were away games against France, Belgium and Spain in May 1929. It was Hugh’s first trip abroad and he travelled on this passport, which is now in the Club’s collection.
The cover of the passport contains the same coat of arms found on today’s passports, except for the monarch’s initials ‘GR’, as the passport was issued in George V’s reign.
The passport page opposite Hugh’s photograph describes Hugh as a ‘footballer’ who was born in Coalville, who was a diminutive 5ft 4½in tall and who had grey eyes and fair hair.
Hugh’s date of birth was 10 April, 1903 but for some unknown reason, this has been rather crudely altered to 10 April, 1908.
Page four of the passport specifies, in handwriting, the only countries for which the passport was valid. These were the countries in the British Empire, together with France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Spain and Portugal.
This list more than covered the England party’s itinerary, as the team only travelled to Paris, Brussels and Madrid. The passport, issued by the Foreign Office the week before the tour began, expired five years later on 30 April, 1934.