John Maddock (24 November 1896 – 27 October 1972) 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 ...

, noted for his 'rifle

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 f ...

'. He played in the

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

position for

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

between 1919 and 1921, before signing with

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 ...

following a two years spell at

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

. He spent eight years with Vale, before joining

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in 1931. He later played for

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

sides

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

and Audley United. He won the

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 ...

title with Port Vale in 1929–30.

Career

Maddock played for local teams Bignall End and Audley, before being spotted by

. He played for them during the war years, playing three games in 1916–17, 23 games in 1917–18, and 14 games in 1918–19. He then established himself in the right-back role as 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 ...

continued after the war. He scored three goals, all penalties at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

, in 15 games in the 1919–20 campaign. After making eight appearances in the 1920–21 season, a serious knee injury seemingly ended his career. Unable to continue working in his former role as a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

in his father's factory, let alone play professional football he spent 75

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

of his money to pay for surgery to remove his damaged

cartilage Cartilage is a resilient and smooth type of connective tissue. In tetrapods, it covers and protects the ends of long bones at the joints as articular cartilage, and is a structural component of many body parts including the rib cage, the neck an ...

; the operation was a success, and allowed him to make occasional appearances for

. Spotted in August 1923 playing

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Joe Schofield Joseph Alfred Schofield (1 January 1871 – 29 September 1929) was an English footballer and football manager. A winger, he played for Stoke between 1891 and 1899, winning himself three England caps in the process. He was later appointed as S ...

, former Stoke secretary now secretary of Second Division

, Maddock was given a trial with the club. He impressed and played 21 league games in the 1923–24 season, converting one

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

. He again scored one penalty in 21 league games in the 1924–25 season. He became a key first-team player in the 1925–26 season, converting five penalties in 30 league and cup games; this tally included a goal in a 3–2 defeat to

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 ...

in the

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 ...

. He scored three goals in 42 appearances in the 1926–27 season, though lost his touch from the penalty spot as he accomplished the dubious feat of missing two penalties in one game against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 18 December, as Vale lost 2–0 at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

. He scored two penalties in 35 matches in the 1927–28 campaign, before featuring 25 times in the 1928–29

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

season. He lost his place in the side by April 1929, and featured just four times as the "Valiants" won the

title 1929–30. After just three appearances in the 1930–31 season, he was transferred to

in July 1931. He helped the "Railwaymen" to finish sixth and tenth in the Third Division North in 1931–32 and 1932–33, and scored six goals in 43 league and cup games at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...

. He later played for

and Audley United.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Port Vale *

Football League 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 In sports leagues, promotion and ...

: 1929–30

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maddock, Jack Footballers from Newcastle-under-Lyme English men's footballers People from Audley, Staffordshire Men's association football fullbacks Stoke City F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players English Football League players 1896 births 1972 deaths