Jack Wilcox

Jack Wilcox
Personal information
Full nameJohn Mitchell Wilcox
Date of birth2 January 1886
Place of birthStourbridge, England
Date of deathAugust 1940 (aged 54)
Place of deathLichfield, England
Playing positionOutside right
Youth career
????Stourbridge Standard
????Cradley St Luke's
????Dudley
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1906–1908Aston Villa6(0)
1908–1911Birmingham47(1)
1911–1912Southampton27(5)
1912–1916Wellington Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

John Mitchell "Jack" Wilcox (2 January 1886[1] – August 1940) was an English professional footballer who played as an outside right for various clubs in the years preceding the First World War.

Football career

Wicox was born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire and joined Aston Villa, initially as an amateur, in March 1906 before signing as a professional in November 1907.[1] He only played six games in the Football League for Aston Villa,[2] before joining Birmingham in a part-exchange deal involving George Travers in November 1908.[1]

He was a winger who enjoyed beating opposing defenders, and was a creator of chances for others rather than a goalscorer. He played 48 games for Birmingham in all competitions before moving on to Southampton in May 1911.[3]

Southampton's newly appointed manager, George Swift, spent a total of £820 on transfers, recruiting eleven new players during May and June 1911. Wilcox was one of the few of these signings who did himself justice in the new season, which ended in a 16th-place finish in the Southern League resulting in Swift's resignation.[4] Playing at outside-right, Wilcox possessed speed and was able to deliver a variety of crosses, and also had the ability to "manoeuvre astutely"[5] to beat the opposing full-back. He scored four goals in his first eleven games,[6] but his form dipped towards the latter part of the season and, in March 1912, he lost his place to Sid Kimpton.[5]

After the end of his one season at The Dell he dropped into non-league football with Wellington Town.

He died in Lichfield, Warwickshire, aged 54.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Player profile". Aston Villa Player Database. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData (Tony Brown). p. 280. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  4. Gary Chalk & Duncan Holley (1987). Saints - A complete record. Breedon Books. p. 225. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 364. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  6. Saints - A complete record. p. 51.