John Norman Breedon (29 December 1907 – 12 December 1967) 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Breedon was born in

South Hiendley South Hiendley is a village and civil parish in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,667, increasing to 1,817 at the 2011 Census. Until 1974 it was part of Hemsworth Rural District. The village is on the ...

in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, and played for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. He also appeared as a wartime guest for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

during the Second World War. After retiring from playing in 1946, Breedon had spells as manager at both

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

and Bradford Park Avenue).

Playing career

Breedon worked as a miner while playing amateur football for his village club in South Hiendley before turning professional when he signed for

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

side

in September 1928. After making eight league appearances in just over two seasons at Oakwell, he transferred to First Division outfit

in November 1930. Breedon never established himself as first-choice goalkeeper during his time with the

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

club and was predominantly a backup to England international Jack Brown. In total, he played 45 league matches for Wednesday in five seasons before moving to

in the summer of 1935. Breedon made his debut for Manchester United in the 1–3 defeat away at

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

on the opening day of the 1935–36 campaign. He was dropped for the following match in favour of Jack Hall, who went on to keep his place for most of the remaining season as the team were crowned Second Division champions. Following the departure of Hall in 1936, Breedon was unable to capitalise as new signing

Tommy Breen Tommy Breen (27 April 1912 – 1 March 1988) was an Irish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for, among others, Belfast Celtic, Manchester United, Linfield and Shamrock Rovers. Breen was a dual international and played for both Ireland t ...

was installed as first-choice goalkeeper. Breedon made 13 league appearances in total during his first three years at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, but became more involved in the first team during the 1938–39 season as United achieved a 14th-place finish in the First Division. He had retained his place in the side for the beginning of the following campaign, appearing in the opening three games, but the season was abandoned following the outbreak of the Second World War and the records were expunged. During the war Breedon assisted several teams as a wartime guest player, including

and

. He also played regularly for Manchester United in wartime competitions, but left the club in October 1945 following the emergence of young goalkeeper

Jack Crompton John Crompton (18 December 1921 – 4 July 2013) was an English professional association football, footballer. Born in Hulme, Manchester, Lancashire, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

. He subsequently signed for

and made his debut for the

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

side in the 2–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

win over

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 7 January 1946. However, it proved to be his only appearance for Burnley as he was unable to dislodge fellow new signing Jimmy Strong from the starting line-up. Strong went on to become first-choice for the next eight years, playing more than 280 matches for the club. Breedon was released by Burnley in May 1946 and retired from professional football aged 38.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from playing, Breedon was offered the manager's job at New Brighton but declined the position. In August 1947, he was appointed manager of

Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club

to replace James Thompson. He spent three years in charge of the Yorkshire side; during this time the team never finished higher than 19th in the division. After leaving Halifax in 1950, Breedon worked as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

for several years. He was appointed manager of rivals

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

in January 1955 but his tenure was brief and he left the club nine months later. This proved to be Breedon's last managerial post as he ended his career with a spell as a scout for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breedon, Jack 1907 births 1967 deaths People from Hemsworth English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Barnsley F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. wartime guest players Manchester City F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players English football managers Halifax Town A.F.C. managers Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. managers English Football League managers Footballers from Yorkshire