Joseph William Windmill MC, DCM (8 June 1881 – 29 October 1927) 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 ...

who played as a

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Halesowen Town and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Early life and footballing career

Windmill was born and educated in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

. Having been born in Brierley Hill he attended Moor Street Council School in the same town. He played initially for Halesowen Town before joining

in 1903 and making his debut on 7 November 1903 in a 3–1 home win against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. This was his only appearance of the 1903–04 season and he would have to wait until 22 October 1904 for his next game. This marked the start of regular league appearances for Windmill and of a successful FA Cup run which saw Aston Villa beat Newcastle United in the 1905 FA Cup Final, on 15 April 1905, with Windmill gaining a winner's medal. In the 1905–06 season his opportunities to play were less and he turned-out in only 16 games. In the following three seasons, however, he made only a single appearance in the league in Aston Villa colours. Windmill, as with many footballers of the time, had employment away from football, in his case teaching. In 1910 the local education committee forced him to end his footballing career as they felt that it interfered with his teaching duties.

After football and World War I

Windmill saw active service in World War I in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He rose to the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major and gained the Military Cross and the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bravery. After the war he continued in the teaching profession and was appointed headmaster of Brook Street School, Wordsley in 1922. Windmill died at his Kingswinford home in 1927 aged 46.

Honours

; Aston Villa * FA Cup:

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Windmill, Jack 1881 births 1927 deaths English men's footballers English Football League players Halesowen Town F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Schoolteachers from the West Midlands People from Brierley Hill Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley Recipients of the Military Cross Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal Men's association football wing halves Heads of schools in England Military personnel from the West Midlands (county)