Jesse Winter Whatley (20 January 1895 – 19 March 1982) was an

association 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 ...

who spent his entire professional career at

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. Known as "Gentleman Jess" through his footballing career, Whatley started playing competitive football in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and represented an

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian Army XI in games against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. While in the Army he served in the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the

Wiltshire Regiment The Wiltshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot and the 99th Duke of Edinburgh's (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. The r ...

during

World War I 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 ...

. Following the war he joined Trowbridge Town in August 1919, and after just two months playing in the

Wiltshire League The Wiltshire Football League is a football league in England, formed by amalgamation in 1976. All clubs are affiliated to a County Football Association. The area covered by the competition is the county of Wiltshire and 15 miles beyond the co ...

he was snapped up by Southern League side

. Despite conceding five goals to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

on his Rovers debut he went on to become a first team regular for ''The Pirates'', playing in 246 consecutive League games between August 1922 and April 1928, a

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 ...

record for most consecutive games that stood until 1953. By the time he retired from professional football in 1930 he had played 386 League games for Rovers; 14 in the Southern League and 372 in the Football League. He continued playing

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

for a further two years, for Stapleton Institute and Mental Institution Club, later moving into coaching, becoming coach of Fry's Cocoa Tree Boys in 1937. In 1939 he was appointed as manager of Downend Football Club, and two years later he took charge of Soundwell. Following the end of his playing days he worked on a farm in

Westerleigh Westerleigh is a clustered village and civil parish (which includes Henfield) in South Gloucestershire, England, it contains sources of the Frome and has an endpoint of the Frome Valley Walkway. It is north of the M4, south of Yate and nort ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

Career statistics

The table below shows Whatley's league appearances in each season. Cup games are not counted here.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whatley, Jesse 1895 births 1982 deaths People from Trowbridge English footballers Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Trowbridge Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Wiltshire Regiment soldiers People from Westerleigh British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Wiltshire Footballers from Gloucestershire