Jack Lambert (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Lambert | ||
| Date of birth | 22 May 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Greasbrough, Yorkshire, England | ||
| Date of death | 7 December 1940 (aged 38) | ||
| Place of death | Enfield, Middlesex, England | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Greasborough | |||
| – | Methley Perseverance | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1922 | Rotherham County | 1 | (1) |
| 1922–1925 | Leeds United | 1 | (0) |
| 1925–1926 | Doncaster Rovers | 44 | (13) |
| 1926–1933 | Arsenal | 143 | (98) |
| 1933–1935 | Fulham | 34 | (4) |
| Total | 223 | (116) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1936-1938 | Margate (Coach) | ||
| 1938 | Arsenal (Coach of Reserves) | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Jack Lambert (22 May 1902 – 7 December 1940) was an English footballer and coach. Lambert, who played as a striker, featured for clubs, Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers, Arsenal & Fulham in his footballing career. He also went on to coach at club Margate and Arsenal as well. Lambert is also Arsenal's joint highest hattrick scorer of all time.[1][2]
Playing career
A large and robust centre forward from Greasbrough, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, Lambert was turned down by Sheffield Wednesday after a trial, so started his career playing for Rotherham County in 1922. He soon made a move to Leeds United, but spent three years there with little success. He finally came to prominence after becoming a regular goalscorer for Doncaster Rovers, joining the side in January 1925. Playing in Yorkshire, he had attracted the attention of Herbert Chapman when the latter was manager of Huddersfield Town. As is so, when Chapman became Arsenal manager, in needing a quality centre-forward, he signed Lambert for £2,000 in June 1926.[2]
He made 16 appearances in his first season with the club, but only scored one goal. He also made 16 appearances in the 1927–28 season, but managed to score three times. He became a regular for the club towards the end of the 1929-30 season; scoring 18 times in only 20 league appearances.[3] Lambert was also prolific in the FA Cup campaign of that season, helping Arsenal to reach the cup final. Arsenal went on to victoriously lift the FA Cup of 1930 by a 2-0 margin against Huddersfield Town, with goals from Lambert and Alex James. He also played in Arsenal's 2–1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the Charity Shield at Stamford Bridge in October 1930.[4]
The following 1930-31 season Lambert was even more successful, scoring 38 goals in just 34 games in the League. This was a club record at the time, of which was later broken by Ted Drake, that included a total of seven hat-tricks. As so, Lambert's feats helped see Arsenal win the First Division title of that season, this being for the first time in the club's history. Lambert continued to play for Arsenal over the next few years, with regular goalscoring. These scoring feats included five goals netted in a 9-2 defeat of Sheffield United, the most ever scored by an Arsenal player in a single home match. Lambert eventually helped Arsenal reach a third FA Cup final, a 2-1 loss to Newcastle United in 1931-32, and won a second First Division title in 1932-33, scoring 14 goals in 12 league appearances.[2]
By now Lambert was over 30 and only a bit-part player. As Ernie Coleman having led the front line through most of 1932-33 and with the signing of Jimmy Dunne in September 1933 Lambert found himself out of the side. He played hid last game on 13 September 1933 against West Bromwich Albion and so was sold in October 1933 to Fulham. In all he scored 109 goals in 161 games for the Gunners. Lambert also holds the distinction of being the joint highest scorer of hattricks for the club as well.[2][1]
Lambert played for two seasons for Fulham before retiring from playing in 1935. The following year he became a coach at Margate of whom at the time were Arsenal's "nursery" club. Lambert then returned to Arsenal two years later as a coach of the club's reserve side.[2]
Personal life
He died at the age of 38, killed in a car accident in Enfield, Middlesex, on 7 December 1940.[5]
Honours
- Arsenal[2]
References
- 1 2 "Goalscoring Records". Arsenal.com.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jack Lambert". Spartacus Educational.com.
- ↑ "Jack Lambert". Arsenal Player Database. Arsenal FC. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
- ↑ "Fortune smiles on the Arsenal". Sheffield Independent. 8 October 1930. p. 10. Retrieved 22 March 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ↑ The Times digital archive 9 December 1940
- Harris, Jeff (1995). Hogg, Tony, ed. Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.