John Henry George Devey (26 December 1866 – 11 October 1940) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er. He is considered one of Aston Villa's greatest captains.

Football career

Devey was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and signed for

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 ...

in March 1891; A skilful inside right/centre-forward and an

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with two caps, he was exceptionally clever with head and feet in front of goal and a prolific goalscorer. He was Villa's top goal scorer in 6 of his 12 seasons with the club. For eight years, Devey captained Aston Villa during which time they won the League championship five times between 1894 and 1900 and 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 ...

twice. Including the famous '

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' in the 1896–97 season. Aston villa 1895 team

In October 1896 Devey was awarded a benefit match against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, after which he was presented with an illuminated address from the club with the following words: William McGregor said this about Devey: He retired as a player in April 1902 and was an Aston Villa director for the next 32 years, during which time he was actively involved with training and scouting new players.

Cricket career

Jack Devey was also a

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, first appearing for the county side in 1887, though matches were only rated as first-class from 1894. He was a right-handed batsman who batted in the middle order until around 1900, but then opened the innings until his final retirement from the game in 1907. He also bowled occasional right-arm medium pace.

Professional Baseball

In 1890 Devey played professional baseball for Aston Villa in the National League of Baseball of Great Britain. He was a gifted baseball player, who led the statistical categories at the end of the year, including being the league’s batting champion.

Family

He was one of five brothers who all played professional football,

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and

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for

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

and John,

Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

and

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for

. Another brother, Abel, was a cricketer with

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

Death

Devey stood down as a Villa director in 1934. He died 11th October 1940. The pall bearers at his funeral were six former Villa players: Billy Walker, Richard York, Arthur Dorrell, Jimmy Gibson,

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

and Frank Barson ― all old international players.

Honours

Aston Villa *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1893–94, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1899–00 *

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

, 1897

References

External links

* *
Profile on www.cricketarchive.comProfile on www.englandfc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devey, John 1866 births 1940 deaths Cricketers from Birmingham, West Midlands Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English footballers England international footballers Association football forwards Aston Unity F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Birmingham St George's F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Football Alliance players English Football League players English Football League representative players English cricketers Warwickshire cricketers Players cricketers English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 FA Cup Final players Aston Villa F.C. directors and chairmen English baseball players