John Jenkins (20 March 1892 – 16 April 1946) was a

Welsh international The Welsh International is an international badminton championship held in Wales since 1928 and is thereby one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. The tournament was halted during World War II and until 1956, between 1960 and 1966, a ...

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 made 216

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 ...

appearances playing as a full back for Brighton & Hove Albion.

Life and career

Jenkins was born in

Gwersyllt Gwersyllt () is an urban village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The densely populated village is one of Wrexham's largest and is situated in the north western suburbs of the city, bordering the nearby villages of Llay, Cefn-y ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, and began his football career with Mold Town. Over the next 15 years he played for numerous clubs in Wales, including Mardy and Pontypridd of the Southern League, and made wartime appearances for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, before joining Brighton & Hove Albion of the

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 ...

in 1922 at the age of 30. He was a regular in the team for several years, and in his last season, 1927–28, he still played 22 matches. After his retirement as a player, he ran a pub 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 ...

, and died in the town in 1946 aged 54. Jenkins was capped eight times for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He had taken part in a trial match in 1912, but did not win his first cap until 16 February 1924 in a 2–0 defeat of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Note that the 28 February 1925 match attributed by this source to Jack Jenkins was actually played in by Eddie Jenkins. Jenkins appeared in all three matches as Wales won the

1923–24 British Home Championship The 1923–24 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played during the 1923–24 season between the British Home Nations. It was won by the excellent Welsh team of the early 1920s who achieved a whitewash of the other t ...

. His eighth and last appearance was also against Scotland, on 30 October 1926, and set a Brighton club record for international caps that lasted until Mark Lawrenson made his ninth appearance for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

more than 50 years later.

References

1892 births 1946 deaths Footballers from Denbighshire Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Mardy A.F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Pontypridd F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Cardiff City F.C. wartime guest players Portsmouth F.C. wartime guest players {{Wales-footy-defender-stub

Life and career

See also

References