John Barclay Picken (1880 – 31 July 1952) was a Scottish

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

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for several clubs in

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 ...

, including

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 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 ...

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 ...

and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, as well as

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, ...

in the

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

. He scored a total of 128 league goals in more than 350 career appearances.

Playing career

Born in

Hurlford Hurlford (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Àtha Cliath'') is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 4,968. Hurlford's former names include Whirlford and Hurdleford. The village was named Whirlford as a result of a ford crossing ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, Picken started his career with Hurlford Thistle before moving to nearby Kilmarnock Shawbank. In 1899, he moved to England to sign for

, where he helped the Trotters to promotion in his first season. He spent four years at Bolton, scoring 22 goals in 101 league appearances before suffering a broken leg in November 1902. In May 1903, having not played for more than six months, he moved to

. He spent a hugely successful two years with the club, scoring 46 goals in all competitions from just 89 appearances, including two

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in three games in October 1904 against New Brompton and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, as Plymouth won the Western League title in 1904–05. His form in front of goal did not go unnoticed, and he joined

prior to the 1905–06 season. That year, he finished as top scorer, with 20 league goals and another five 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 ...

, helping Manchester United earn promotion back to the First Division for the first time since 1894. He remained a first-team regular the following season, but found goals much harder to come by, scoring just four in 26 league appearances. For Manchester United's first league title-winning season in 1907–08, Picken lost his place as the starting inside left to fellow Hurlford native

Sandy Turnbull Alexander Turnbull (30 July 1884 – 3 May 1917) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward for both Manchester City and Manchester United in the early 20th century. Football career Born in Hurlford to James and Jessie Turnbull of 1 Gibs ...

and made just eight appearances all season, scoring once. Picken remained Turnbull's back-up for the remainder of his time at Manchester United, scoring another 14 goals in 46 appearances over three seasons. He picked up another league title in 1910–11, although he missed out on the 1909 FA Cup final. During the 1910–11 season, Picken and Dick Holden shared a benefit, from which both players received a guaranteed £300. Picken was totally out of the picture at Manchester United by the start of the 1911–12 season, and in December 1911, he left the club after six-and-a-half years to join

in the Second Division.Dykes (1994), p. 306. Despite going unbeaten at home and scoring the most goals in the entire Football League, Burnley narrowly missed out on promotion, a feat Picken had managed in his first seasons at both Bolton and Manchester United. Burnley were again the league's top scorers in 1912–13, and this time it saw them promoted as runners-up behind

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. Picken chose to remain in the Second Division, however, and joined

in October 1913, where he spent the final two seasons of his career.

Later life

Picken returned to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

after retiring from football. He died in

Devonport, Plymouth Devonport ( ), formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was originally one o ...

on 31 July 1952.

Honours

;Plymouth Argyle *

Western Football League The Western Football League is a football league in South West England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The league's current main sponsor is Toolstation, so it is also known as ...

(1): 1904–05 ;Manchester United *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

(2): 1907–08, 1910–11 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

(1):

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

References

Bibliography * Notes

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Picken, Jack 1880 births 1952 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Western Football League players Footballers from East Ayrshire People from Hurlford