Albert Edward Jepson (9 November 1902 – 18 December 1981) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as an

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in the 1920s and 1930s.

Career

Huddersfield Town

Jepson was born in

Glasshoughton Glasshoughton is a neighbourhood of Castleford in West Yorkshire, England, that borders on Pontefract. The appropriate Wakefield ward is called Castleford Central and Glasshoughton. It is home to the Xscape leisure centre and ski slope, the J ...

, near

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

in West Yorkshire and after leaving school worked in the coal mines, playing football with

Frickley Colliery Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery was opened by the Carlton Main Colliery Company Ltd in 1903 in South Elmsall, in Yorkshire, England. Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery The first sod was cut on 23 April 1903 of shafts No.1 and No.2 and the ...

in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History T ...

. He had previously played for Castleford Town and Allerton United. He was a late-comer to professional football and it was just after his 25th birthday that he was taken on by

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

in May 1927. At that time Huddersfield were one of the top English football clubs, having won the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for three consecutive seasons in the mid-1920s, finishing as runners-up in 1926–27. With Scottish international Alex Jackson well-established at No. 7, Jepson had to content himself with a year in the reserves as Huddersfield again finished the season as League runners-up, coupled with a trip to

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

for the 1928 FA Cup Final, where they were defeated 3–1 by

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

Southampton

In August 1928, Jepson was one of seven new signings as

's manager

Arthur Chadwick Arthur Chadwick (July 1875 – 21 March 1936) was a professional footballer whose playing career as a centre-half included spells at Portsmouth and Southampton, before going on to be manager at Exeter City, Reading and Southampton. He also mad ...

started to re-build a side that had finished a disappointing 17th in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in the previous season. Jepson went straight into the first team, making his debut in the opening match of the 1928–29 season, a 2–2 draw at

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. Jepson was injured in that match, and had to sit out the next two matches, before settling into the

position. In December 1928, he lost his place to

Bobby Weale Robert Henry Weale (16 December 1905 – 8 December 1952) was a Welsh footballer who played as an outside right for various clubs in England and Wales in the 1920s and 1930s. Football career West Ham United Weale was born in Troed-y-rhiw in ...

, who had just been signed from

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

for a then club record of £1,000 Jepson regained his place at the end of March, playing in five of the last seven matches of the season, scoring three goals, as the "Saints" improved their league performance with a fourth-place finish. Weale was back in favour for the start of the 1929–30 season, but by mid-season his form had become erratic and Jepson was recalled to the side in March, playing in the last nine matches, scoring three goals which came in three successive matches in April. With Weale leaving The Dell in the summer of 1930, Jepson made the No. 7 shirt his own, missing only two matches during the 1930–31 season, in which the Saints finished in mid-table. Jepson again started the following season on the right, scoring in the opening match of the season, but an injury in November put him out for several weeks, before returning for a further four games in January, when he was again injured. During his absences from the side, manager

George Kay George Kay (21 September 1891 – 18 April 1954) was an English football player and manager of Luton Town, Southampton and Liverpool. The highlight of his playing career was when he captained West Ham United in the first FA Cup final to be play ...

tried seven different players on the right wing, before Dick Neal was signed in February. Neal's arrival brought Jepson's career with Southampton to an end, and although he was happy to remain with the club, he was put on the transfer list at a fee of £500. With no offers at this fee and the club struggling with increasing levels of debt, he was given a free transfer to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in June 1932 (together with fellow forwards

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play ''W ...

and Arthur Haddleton) having made 95 appearances for the Saints, scoring 18 goals.

Later career

At Fulham, he found his favoured place at outside right occupied by another international, Welshman Billy Richards, and spent a frustrating season in the reserves. In May 1933, he returned to the south coast, joining

where he played two seasons in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

before retiring in 1935. After retiring from football, he became the manager of the Belgravia Dairy in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he guested for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and Swansea Town, and in 1948, now aged 45, he was granted a special permit to join Sussex League side

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

as their player-coach.

Personal life

He had a daughter by the name of Doreen.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jepson, Bert 1902 births 1981 deaths Sportspeople from Castleford English footballers Association football forwards Castleford Town F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Hove United F.C. players English Football League players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Swansea Town A.F.C. wartime guest players