Bolton Hatton began his career at
Bolton Wanderers in 1961. In eight years with
the Trotters, for whom he was also
captain, he made 259 league and cup appearances.
Blackpool In 1969, Hatton joined
Les Shannon's
Blackpool for £40,000. He made his debut for the club on 6 September 1969, in a 3–2 victory over
Swindon Town at
Bloomfield Road. He went on to play in all of the remaining 35 league games of the
1969–70 campaign, at the end of which Blackpool were promoted to
Division One as runners-up. Hatton made another 36 league appearances in
1970–71 as Blackpool immediately returned to
Division Two. In a league match against
Chelsea at Bloomfield Road on 24 October 1970, Blackpool were leading 3–0 when the Londoners fought back to make the scoreline 3–3. Hatton then proceeded to score a last-minute
own-goal to give the visitors the points. In
1971–72, under new manager
Bob Stokoe, Hatton appeared in all but two league games. He also scored his first goal for Blackpool — the only goal in a home victory over
Sheffield Wednesday on 28 August 1971. He scored three more goals in the league — one in a 2–1 home defeat to
Norwich City on 11 September; another one against Sheffield Wednesday, this time at
Hillsborough, in a 2–1 victory on 8 January 1972; and one in a final-day 5–0 whitewash of
Charlton Athletic at Bloomfield Road. Hatton continued to be a regular at right-back during
1972–73, making 33 league appearances and scoring one goal — his third against Sheffield Wednesday in two seasons, this time in a 2–1 defeat at Bloomfield Road on 16 December 1972. He also scored in the
FA Cup to help
the Seasiders into the third round after two replays against
AFC Bournemouth. Hatton scored in the second replay, which Blackpool won 2–1 after extra time. It was played at
Villa Park. During the
1973–74 season, under new manager
Harry Potts, Hatton played at right-back, left-back, and one game as a forward. He made 31 league appearances, scoring one goal — in a 2–2 draw at
Oxford United on 15 December 1973. Hatton missed only one league game of the
1974–75 campaign. He scored one goal — a penalty at
Bristol City on 23 November 1974, which gave Blackpool the points. Hatton missed the first five games of the
1975–76 league season, which proved to be his last as a Blackpool player. He went on to make 34 subsequent appearances, however, the last of which occurred on 24 August 1976, in a final-day 3–0 defeat at
Luton Town. He had made a total of 274 appearances for Blackpool in seven years, scoring eight goals.
Bury Hatton joined
Bury in the summer of 1976 after new Blackpool manager,
Allan Brown, released him. In three years at
Gigg Lane, he made 97 league appearances and scored two goals. For the final two years of his stint at the club, he was their
player-manager. He was sacked after
the Shakers narrowly avoided relegation to
Division Four. == Personal life ==