John Sheldon (born January 1887) 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 for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

during the early part of the 20th century.

Life and playing career

Sheldon was born in Clay Cross,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England, and played for Nuneaton and

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 ...

before being signed by the Liverpool manager Tom Watson in November 1913. Sheldon made his Liverpool debut on 29 November 1913 in the 2–1 First Division win over

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 ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. He scored his first goal the following month on 6 December at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

. The winger went on to miss only three games for the remainder of the 1913/14 season which included the whole of 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 ...

run when Liverpool reached their first final on 25 April 1914. The game was the last final held at the Crystal Palace ground and the first time to be played in front of a reigning monarch,

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

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 ...

won 1–0 and it was another 51 years before Liverpool won the FA Cup. Sheldon had a decent 1914/15 season finishing second on Liverpool's appearance list and third on the goalscoring list. That season however, he became notorious for his part in the

1915 British football betting scandal The 1915 British football betting scandal occurred when a Football League First Division match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on 2 April (Good Friday) 1915 was fixed in United's favour, with players from both sides benefit ...

, of which he was found to be the ringleader. He was banned – initially for life – along with the other players involved in the match fixing plot, but shortly afterward the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

saw the suspension of league football anyway. At the end of the war his ban was lifted and he returned to Liverpool where the following two years were much like those before the war, with Sheldon only missing 12 games during this period. Sheldon was forced into early retirement due to injury. His final game for Liverpool was on 16 April 1921 in a league match against Derby County, the game finishing 1–1.

Career details

* Manchester United F.C. (1910–1913) 26 appearances, 1 goal – Division 1 winner (1910/11) * Liverpool F.C. (1913–1921) 147 appearances, 20 goals – FA Cup runners-up medal (1914)

External links

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Jackie 1887 births Footballers from Chesterfield English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Everton F.C. wartime guest players Middlesex Regiment soldiers Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Date of birth missing Date of death missing Place of death missing 20th-century British Army personnel

Life and playing career

Career details

See also

External links