John Thomas Foster (21 March 1903 – after 1936) was an English professional

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 ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who played as an

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

. He made over 430 appearances 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 ...

over sixteen seasons for a total of seven clubs, most notably for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

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 ...

Playing career

, Foster began his Football League career with hometown First Division club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, joining them from Murton Colliery Welfare in August 1920. He made his league debut for "The Black Cats" aged 17 on 25 September 1920 in an away match against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

, but made only a further 4 league appearances for the club. After a solitary season with Sunderland he then dropped through the leagues and had two successive two-season spells in 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 ...

with firstly

and then

. In his first season with Ashington (which was the club's first in the Football League, with Foster playing in their inaugural match) he missed only eight league games and was an ever-present in the second season appearing in all 38 of their league matches in the 1922–23 campaign. He scored his first Football League goal on 18 February 1922, one of a brace, in Ashington's 7–3 defeat of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. He had a similar appearance record with Halifax for whom he signed in September 1923, in his two campaigns with "The Shaymen" he played in 73 of the 80 league games available to him. He next moved to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

, signing with them in May 1925. During his single season with "The Mariners", in which he made ten league appearances, they won the 1925–26 season Third Division North title. In June 1926 Foster transferred to

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 ...

club

. They won the league title in his first season however, Foster only played in one match and did not receive a champions medal. After a further two seasons with "The Robins", now in 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 ...

, he had played in a total of 51 games scoring 5 goals (including 47 games with 4 goals in the league) before he departed Ashton Gate at the end of the 1928–29 season. In May 1929 Foster and Bristol City teammate Cyril Blakemore joined Third Division South club

, for a combined fee of £500. He was a virtual ever-present until the 1932–33 season, when he made just 22 appearances, but still contributed to the Bees' Third Division South title. Foster departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

in 1933 having made a total of 153 league and cup appearances and scoring 21 goals. Foster signed for Third Division North club

in July 1933 and in the 1933–34 season he played in all 42 of the club's league matches scoring a personal best 14 league goals during the season. He played in 36 matches in the league the next season but in 1935–36, Foster's final season playing in the Football League, he made only nine league appearances for the Holker Street club. Of the total of his 21 goals scored in the league for Barrow, four were scored from the penalty spot (his only career Football League penalty goals) – his last goal for Barrow, and his final one in the Football League scored on 16 November 1936 was a penalty against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. In 1936 he moved into non-league football and joined Birmingham & District League club Colwyn Bay United. In the summer of 1937 he signed with

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

of the Kent League.

Coaching career

After retiring from football, Foster had a spell

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

in Belgium.

Personal life

Foster's brother Jimmy was also a footballer and was on the books at Brentford, but failed to make an appearance for the first team. Late in his career, whilst with Barrow, in addition to playing Foster was involved in the licensed trade.

Honours

Grimsby Town *

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 ...

: 1925–26 Bristol City *

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 ...

: 1926–27 Brentford * Football League Division Three South: 1932–33

Football League career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Jackie 1903 births Year of death missing Footballers from Sunderland English men's footballers Men's association football outside forwards Murton A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Ashington A.F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Colwyn Bay F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players English Football League players Kent Football League (1894–1959) players English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium