He spent three seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps of the NASL, had brief spells with Arsenal and Shamrock Rovers, and finished his playing career in English non-league football.

With the scores tied, Hankin was fouled while jumping to head a crossed ball and Leighton James converted the resulting penalty for what proved to be the winning goal.

[19] A move to Leeds United – 1973–74 Football League champions and 1975 European Cup Finalists – was agreed, but the medical revealed knee problems that required further investigation and possible surgery.

[27] He scored five goals in his first five matches,[28] and two weeks later, against Manchester United, produced "a display of aerial ability throughout that must put him along the game's great headers of a ball".

[29] The Guardian's reporter still had concerns that he and Joe Jordan needed to establish as close a relationship as existed between Mick Jones and Allan Clarke in Leeds' title-winning days.

[32] Playing alongside new signing John Hawley, Hankin contributed 9 goals from 30 league appearances in 1978–79 to help Leeds finish fifth and qualify for the UEFA Cup.

[31][33] In March 1979, he was suspended for two weeks by manager Jimmy Adamson for an unspecified breach of club discipline;[34] Hankin said later that it was for missing treatment to an injury.

[35] Early in the new season, Hawley was sold[33] and Hankin submitted a transfer request, which was turned down by Leeds' board: Adamson said he was too valuable a player to lose.

[36] In hopes of a move abroad, Hankin declared himself an admirer of "Continental methods and their style" before submitting a second request in October[37] – also rejected[38] – before being made available for transfer some six weeks later.

[41] The team was managed by Tony Waiters, who had been in charge of the England youths at the 1973 European Championships,[42] and Hankin's Leeds teammate David Harvey had joined a few days earlier.

[43] Although the Irish Times thought some members of the team that played pre-season friendlies in Ireland, Hankin included, needed to "shed a bit of weight before the real competitive season gets under way",[44] the Whitecaps won their division, but failed in the playoffs.

Reunited with Leeds striker partner John Hawley, Hankin played twice for the first team, both times as a substitute in the League Cup against Liverpool, but no permanent move ensued.

[49] He was a regular in the side despite a lack of goals, but fell out of favour towards the end of the season and made his final appearance as a substitute against Leicester City on 5 April 1983.

[56] Injury meant Hankin missed the first half of the 1984–85 season, but when, eight matches into his return to the team, he was sent off for a fifth time,[54][55] the club cancelled his contract with immediate effect.

[23] Within days, he signed for Second Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers – manager Tommy Docherty told him it was his last chance in football[57] – but in the eleven matches he played for them was unable to make enough difference to prevent their relegation.

[63] While captaining Guisborough in the first round of the 1988–89 FA Cup against Football League club Bury in a match switched to Middlesbrough's Ayresome Park ground, Hankin was involved in a bizarre incident.

[64] The matter was raised in Parliament by the local MP, Richard Holt, who took advantage of parliamentary privilege to assert that the team were "cheated by a biased referee" who should have been "hounded out of the ground.