Who’s Who in the England Team

Sammy Hanna—Another from Halifax. Acknowledged the finest short stop in the country. Professional footballer. Of Irish descent. Learned game in Canada.

Samuel Hanna (1910–1975) is the real outlier in this list. In a team loaded with Canadian ice hockey players, Sam Hanna was a New Yorker and a footballer (Association Football, not gridiron). He qualified for the England team because, although he was raised in the US, he was born in Northern Ireland (Portadown) and carried a British passport.[i] Despite the claim in the programme bio. that he learned his baseball in Canada, it seems likely, although not certain, that all his baseball experience was gained in the US. We can certainly point to this latter statement being made about him a year after his selection for the England team; more particularly, perhaps, a year before the England–US series, he was picked to play for ‘America’ against ‘Canada’ in a game featuring American and Canadian players in the NBA leagues. This said, there was also at least one mention in the press of him having played ‘for both American and Canadian teams’. At the very least, it can be said that the programme bio., albeit for obvious reasons, neglected to mention he was a longtime resident of the US and had played most of his baseball there.[ii] Hanna is a prime example of the transnational nature of American baseball in general and American baseball in Britain in particular.

Alas, to date, I have been unable to find out anything concrete about Hanna’s sporting career before he arrived in Britain in the Spring of 1937 to play baseball. At various times, he listed his occupation as mill hand at a carpet mill in Amsterdam, New York (his father James was a weaver at presumably the same mill), including on the 1930 US Federal Census and on an earlier visit to England to visit family in Northern Ireland in the winter of 1934/35.[iii] While it is possible that he did spend some time in Canada playing baseball, that has yet to be determined, and the window for when that could have happened is very narrow.

His introduction to baseball in Britain came as a member of the [West Ham] Pirates, a new team created for the LMBL’s second (and final) season. In his May 1937 recruitment announcement, he was described as a ‘smart outfielder from America’[iv]—the Pirates’ owner, L.D. Wood, was clearly trading on the cachet of having scored another US ballplayer for his team. Fellow future England player Frank Cadorette was also in the Pirates roster, while the Pirates’ stablemates at West Ham, the Hammers (generally simply known as ‘West Ham’), included future England player Jerry Strong.

Alas, despite a strong start, the Pirates had a terrible season, suffering from inconsistency, not least due to an uneven roster of players and playing perpetual second fiddle to the ‘senior’ West Ham team, the Hammers. They ended the season near the bottom of the table and disbanded along with West Ham when the London Major League collapsed at the end of the 1937 season. In truth, the Pirates would probably not have made it another season regardless. As stated above, Hanna also found time to turn out for ‘America’ alongside fellow Pirates players Eddie Momma and Slim Tyson in a match against Canadians in the NBA leagues in June 1937 played at Hull, a game that muddies the waters on how the NBA saw him, and how he saw himself, before his England call-up a year later.[v]

Based on later reports, it seems that Hanna spent at least part of the next year staying with family in Portadown, Northern Ireland, turning out for the Cliftonville amateur Association Football team while he was there.[vi]

Hanna’s 1938 baseball season with new team Halifax, in the equally new Yorkshire–Lancashire League, could not have been more different from his Pirates experience. Under the captainship of fellow England player Danny Wright, Hanna came alive as a big hitter, smashing three home runs on three successive times at bat in early June 1937. More particularly, he excelled in the role of shortstop, taking five catches in a single game in late June. It was performances like this that secured him his England call-up. Halifax finished the season at the top of the table, taking the first of two successive Yorkshire–Lancashire League titles.[vii]

At the end of the 1938 baseball season, Hanna had a try-out for Halifax Town Football Club, in a Reserves match against Bolsover Colliery. He also returned to Portadown and played some games with [Belfast] Celtic, winners of the Irish Cup three years running (1936–1938).[viii]

Hanna returned to Halifax for its blockbuster 1939 baseball season under the leadership of George McNeil. As stated above, this ended in Halifax winning the Yorkshire–Lancashire League, NBA Challenge Cup, and Yorkshire Cup titles. At the end of the baseball season, he made his first-team debut for Halifax Town FC. However, he was back in New York by the Spring of 1940 and back working at the carpet mill. He died in New York in 1975.[ix]

Poor fielding could be the undoing of a team­—as England’s performance in the third test showed—however, Hanna’s skills as a shortstop gave England a defensive edge. His skills with the bat were just an added bonus.

[i] Samuel Hanna’s biographical information can be assembled by working backward from the passenger list for the SS Scythia arriving New York 11October 1938, in which ‘Samuel Hanna’, nationality British, birthplace Portadown, occupation ‘baseball’ crossed out and replaced with ‘mill hand’ appears. Sam Hanna’s contact in the US is given as his father James Hanna of Amsterdam, NY. Hanna’s occupation is  also given  as ‘baseball player’ in the associated departure record for the SS Scythia, 1 October 1938. Tracing this lead backwards, we see the Hanna family listed in the 1930 US Federal Census living in Amsterdam, date of arrival in the US 1923.  In the latter, James Hanna is listed as a weaver in a carpet mill and Samuel Hanna as a clerk in a carpet mill. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960, 1930 US Federal Census, ancestry.co.uk, Ancestry.com Inc. Operations, accessed 29 July 2025.

[ii] Hanna: Played all his baseball in the US: ‘Another Inter-City Baseball Match’, Evening Dispatch (Birmingham), 19 July 1939; playing for America against Canada: ‘Big Match Ahead for Craven Park’, Hull Daily Mail, 10 July 1937; played for both American and Canadian teams: Watcher, ‘Who’s Who in Inter-County Baseball Battle’, Liverpool Evening Express, 26 July 1939.

[iii] 1930 Census: Note 26 above, final reference. 1934/35 visit to Northern Ireland: Samuel Hanna, passenger, SS Caledonia, 19 January 1935, 1820-1957, UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960, ancestry.co.uk, Ancestry.com Inc. Operations, accessed 29 July 2025.

[iv] Recruited into Pirates: ‘Holiday Baseball’, Evening News (London), 15 May 1937.

[v] The best account of the Pirates short existence is that given by Chetwynd and Belton: Josh Chetwynd and Brian A Belton, ‘British Baseball and the West Ham Club’ (London: McFarland and Company, 2007). Hanna playing for ‘America’: see Note 27 above, second reference.

[vi] ‘To Visit Barnsley: Brookes to Reurn to Halifax Town team’, Halifax Evening Courier, 31 August 1938.

[vii] Three home runs: see Note 23 above, second reference. Five catches: T.T. Wilkinson, ‘Shay Baseball Chat’, Halifax Evening Courier, 25 June 1938.

[viii] Tryout for Halifax Town FC: Note 30 above; playing for Celtic: ‘School’s International For Cliftonville’, Portadown News, 6 August 1938.

[ix] Triple: ‘Halifax Baseball Champions’, Bradford Observer, 8 August 1938. McNeil and Hanna in Halifax team: ‘Baseball: Halifax Team For Hull’, Halifax Evening Courier, 2 August 1939. First-team debut Halifax Town FC: ‘Bradford City Doubt’, Leeds Mercury, 29 August 1939. Back in the US: Samuel Hanna, 1940 US Federal Census, Amsterdam, New York. Death: U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, ancestry.co.uk, Ancestry.com Inc. Operations, accessed 29 July 2025.