David Jack

David Bone Nightingale Jack (3 April 1898 – 10 September 1958) was an English footballer, the first player ever to score at Wembley, and the first footballer in the world to be transferred for more than £10,000. His father, Bob Jack, was also a footballer, as were his brothers Rollo and Donald.

An inside forward, born in Bolton, Lancashire, Jack started his career with his father's club, Plymouth Argyle in 1919. There he scored 15 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions.^[1] In 1920 he returned to the town of his birth, moving to Bolton Wanderers for £3,500. He spent eight seasons with the Trotters, forming a formidable partnership with Joe Smith, and between them they scored over 300 goals. While at Bolton, he made history by being the first person to score a goal at Wembley Stadium, in the 1923 FA Cup Final; Bolton won 2–0 and Jack earned his first medal.

A year later, he won his first England cap, in a 1–2 defeat against Wales on 3 March 1924. In eight years he played eight times for his country and scored three times. He continued to have success with Bolton, winning the FA Cup again in 1925–26, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win over Manchester City. He was the club's top scorer for five of the eight seasons he was there, scoring 144 goals in 295 league matches.

In 1928, with Bolton in financial trouble, Herbert Chapman's Arsenal made David Jack the first five digit signing in world football, almost double the previous record. Recollections of the exact figure vary,^[2] from £10,000,^[3] to £10,890,^[4] to £11,500;^[5] all agree it was the first five digit figure. According to Bob Wall, Chapman negotiated the transfer with Bolton's representatives in a hotel bar, his tactic being to drink gin and tonics without any gin in them, while asking the waiter to double the alcohol served to the other side. Chapman remained sober while the Bolton representatives got very drunk, and managed to haggle down the fee to a price he considered a bargain.^[4]

Intended as a replacement for retired captain Charlie Buchan, Jack was a success at Highbury. He made his debut against Newcastle United on 20 October 1928, and became a regular straight away. He was the club's top scorer for the 1928–29 season. Although less prolific than centre-forward Jack Lambert, he still scored important goals, including the one in the 1929–30 FA Cup semi-final against Hull City which sent Arsenal through to the final; Arsenal beat Huddersfield Town 2–0 in the final and Jack became the first player to win the Cup at Wembley with two different clubs. He played in Arsenal's 2–1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the Charity Shield at Stamford Bridge in October 1930.^[6]

Jack continued to feature for Arsenal through the early 1930s, recording a personal best of 34 goals in Arsenal's First Division-winning season of 1930–31. He won two more titles in 1932–33 and 1933–34; however by the time of the latter he was in his mid-30s and reaching the end of his career, with competition for his place from new signing Ray Bowden meant Jack played only 16 matches that season. He retired soon after winning his third league medal, in May 1934. In all he scored 124 times in 208 matches for Arsenal, making him the ninth-best goalscorer in the club's history.

After retiring from playing, he went on to become manager of Southend United from May 1934 to August 1940, and then Middlesbrough from November 1944 to April 1952. Jack also managed League of Ireland side Shelbourne from the summer of 1953 to April 1955. He died in 1958, aged 60.

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