John Leslie Gregory (25 January 1925 – March 2008) was an English professional

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 a full back 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

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

during the 1940s and 1950s.

Playing career

Southampton

Gregory was born in

and after playing youth football with

Woolston Woolston may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Woolston, Cheshire, a village and civil parish in Warrington * Woolston, Devon, on the list of United Kingdom locations: Woof-Wy near Kingsbridge, Devon * Woolston, Southampton, a city suburb in Ham ...

Youth Club, he was signed by

as a professional in December 1944. He made his first team debut as a replacement for Bill Rochford in a 3–1 defeat to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

at a snow-covered

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

on 22 February 1947. Gregory spent most of his Southampton career in the reserves and his next first team appearance came on 23 September 1950. After another spell in the reserves, he replaced

Norman Kirkman Norman Kirkman (6 June 1920 – 17 November 1995) was an English footballer who played as a full-back for various clubs in the Football League in the 1940s and 1950s, before a brief career as a manager. Football career Playing career Kir ...

for the final five games of the season. He retained his place in the first team for the start of the following season, before giving way to Kirkman after four matches. He made the occasional appearance over the next few months, with a run of eight games from January to March as replacement for

Peter Sillett Richard Peter Tudor Sillett (1 February 1933 – 13 March 1998) was an English footballer. He played for Chelsea and Southampton as a right-back, and made three appearances for England. He was the older brother of John Sillett, who managed Cove ...

, who had taken over at fullback from Kirkman. Gregory's best season for the Saints came in 1953–54 after they had been relegated to 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 on ...

. He was appointed team captain and only missed four league matches during the season as Saints failed to make the expected return to Division Two. He then lost his place to Tommy Traynor and after another season in the reserves, he was given a free transfer to

in July 1955. In his ten years at the Dell, he made 68 appearances in all competitions, without scoring. In his final season at The Dell, Gregory was an ever-present member of the Southampton reserve team which won the Combination Cup under the management of Ted Bates.

Leyton Orient

At Orient, he joined another club playing in the Third Division South, and helped them to take the Division title in his first season with his new club. The following season, now back 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 ...

, Gregory only missed two league matches as Orient consolidated their position in mid-table. Gregory spent two more years at

Brisbane Road Brisbane Road, originally known as Osborne Road, is a football stadium in Brisbane Road, Leyton, East London, England. It has been the home ground of Leyton Orient since 1937, before which it was the home of amateur football team Leyton F.C., w ...

before returning to the

South coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

in July 1959 to join

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as Bo ...

, where he spent one season before retiring from professional football.

Later career

He then dropped down to non-league football, spending two years with Ashford Town, followed by a year with Hastings United. He then returned to Southampton where he managed

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

team Cowes Sports and then Southampton based Sholing Sports. He was employed in

Southampton Docks The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...

as a boilermaker. He was married to Pauline and had four children. On 20 March 2008, it was reported that he had died.

Honours

Leyton Orient *

Football League 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 on ...

champions: 1955–56

References

External links

Obituary on Southampton website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Jack 1925 births Footballers from Southampton 2008 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Southampton F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Hastings United F.C. (1948) players Ashford United F.C. players English Football League players