Jack Horton

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Jack Horton
Personal information
Full name John Henry Horton[1]
Date of birth (1866-02-15)15 February 1866[1]
Place of birth West Bromwich, England[1]
Date of death 28 December 1946(1946-12-28) (aged 80)[1]
Place of death West Bromwich, England[1]
Position(s) Defender / Forward
Youth career
Oak Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1881–1882 Wednesbury Old Athletic
1882–1897 West Bromwich Albion 130 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Henry Horton (15 February 1866 – 28 December 1946) was an English footballer who played in the English Football League and the 1895 FA Cup final for West Bromwich Albion. He also played for Burslem Port Vale and Wednesbury Old Athletic. His brother Ezra was also a footballer, and was a teammate of many years at West Brom.

Career[edit]

Horton, a player able to play either as a defender or as an attacker, began his career at Oak Villa.[1] He represented Wednesbury Old Athletic, before joining up with West Bromwich Albion.[2][1] Whilst with West Brom he also played at least four friendly matches for Burslem Port Vale, scoring three goals, between April 1884 and December 1885.[1] All three of his goals came in a 6–1 win over Wednesbury Town on 5 April 1884.[1]

He made his league debut on 8 September 1888, at full-back for West Bromwich Albion in a 2–0 win against Stoke at the Victoria Ground. He played 19 of the "Throstles" 22 Football League matches and was part of a defence-line that achieved three clean-sheets whilst restricting the opposition to a single goal on four occasions.[3] He played 129 league games in the English Football League from 1889 to 1897, including 19 of the club's 22 games in the league's inaugural season. The club's best finish in his time there was fifth place in 1889–90. He appeared in the 1895 FA Cup final at Crystal Palace, and unsuccessfully battled with Aston Villa's Jack Devey in a goalmouth scramble just some 30 seconds into the game; despite this, the goal was credited to Bob Chatt. It proved to be the only goal of the game.[4]

Style of play[edit]

Horton was described in one source as a grand full-back who could never be faulted when it came to resolute tackling and clearing his line, which he did in fine style.[2]

Career statistics[edit]

Source:[5]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
West Bromwich Albion 1888–89 Football League 19 0 1 0 0 0 20 0
1889–90 Football League 17 0 2 0 0 0 19 0
1890–91 Football League 15 0 1 0 0 0 16 0
1891–92 Football League 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
1892–93 First Division 19 0 1 0 0 0 20 0
1893–94 First Division 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
1894–95 First Division 17 0 1 0 0 0 18 0
1895–96 First Division 25 0 4 0 4 0 34 0
1896–97 First Division 4 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
1897–98 First Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 130 0 11 0 4 0 145 0

Honours[edit]

West Bromwich Albion

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 143. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. ^ a b Matthews, Tony (2012). The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion 1878 - 2005. The Derby Books. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-78091-154-0.
  3. ^ "English National Football Archive". Retrieved 21 March 2018. (registration & fee required)
  4. ^ Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. SoccerData. ISBN 1-899468-67-6.
  5. ^ Jack Horton at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)