John Powell (25 March 1860 – 16 March 1947) was a Welsh

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

er who played as a full-back for

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

in the late 1880s. Born in Ffrwd, near

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Powell began his football career with

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

in 1879, with whom he won the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

three times and reached the final twice more.Dykes (1994), p. 308. In October 1883, he joined

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 ...

, becoming the first Welsh player to move to England in pursuit of a professional football career; however, professionalism was not legalised until July 1885, and he had to leave the club after 21 months. After moving to Manchester to become a fitter with the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

at their carriage and wagon works in

, he joined the company's football team and played in their first major competitive fixture, an

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 ...

First Round tie away to Fleetwood Rangers on 30 October 1886; the match finished in a 2–2 draw, but Newton Heath were eliminated after refusing to play extra time.Dykes (1994), p. 307–8. Powell quickly became the club's first-choice right-back and was made club captain in 1887. He played in all but one match in Newton Heath's first season of organised league football in 1888–89, when they were awarded

The Combination The Combination was a league during the early days of English football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888–89 season for teams across the Northern England and the Midlands, and was wound up before completion. The second ...

title despite not all the teams having completed their fixture schedules. The following year, Newton Heath's first season in the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

, Powell and his fellow full-back John Mitchell switched sides, with Powell taking over at left-back. However, it proved to be Powell's last full season with the club, as he only played four more games in 1890–91, his final competitive appearance coming in the FA Cup Second Round Qualifying defeat to Bootle Reserves on 25 October 1890. He was replaced as captain by George Evans, before retiring at the end of the season. Over the span of his career, Powell made 15 appearances 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 ...

, five of them while with Newton Heath. After his retirement from football, Powell continued to work for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway before becoming a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

licensee in Manchester and later Wrexham.

References

Bibliography * Notes

External links

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at StretfordEnd.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Jack 1860 births 1947 deaths Welsh footballers Association football defenders Druids F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Wales international footballers Football Alliance players