Joe Dines was born on 12 April 1886 in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England. 

Joe worked as a schoolmaster at King’s Lynn but is mostly fondly remembered as a highly skilled amateur footballer.

He gained his county colours while playing for King’s Lynn where he made 149 appearances, including an infamous 11-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the 1905-06 Fa Cup.

Joe also played for Norwich City and Woolwich Arsenal reserves and won the 1908 Southern Counties Championship with Norfolk. 

Joe moved to Essex where he soon became captain of Ilford. He had appearances for Queen’s Park Rangers and Millwall at this time.

Joe’s crowning sporting achievement came at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. As part of the Great Britain Football Team, Joe played half-back in all three matches. Great Britain were 1912 Olympic Football Champions and Joe left Stockholm with a gold medal.

Starting in 1910 in a match against Wales, Joe received 24 amateur international caps.

Joe was one of three brothers to volunteer immediately on the outbreak of the First World War. 

He served with the Ordinance Corps, the Middlesex Regiment, the Machine Gun Corps and the Tank Corps, before being commissioned into the Liverpool Regiment as a Second Lieutenant. He even played one game for Liverpool before he was sent to France.

Joe served for only eleven days on the Western Front before he was killed by a bust of machine gun fire. Joe had been leading an attack on an enemy position. The battalion took 600 prisoners but lost six officers and 125 men in the action.

Joe Dines is buried at Grand Ravine British Cemetery, Harvincourt.