John Brearley (October 1875 – 1944) was an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and manager. He played as a forward for several clubs, most notably Millwall Athletic, Everton and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. He was able to play in at least five outfield positions, but had a preference for playing inside-right. During 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 ...

he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in Germany.

Playing career

Brearley played 51 games and scored 13 goals for Millwall Athletic as he helped them win the Southern League District Combination and reach the semi-final 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 ...

in 1900. He made his debut for Everton against WBA in September 1902 and subsequently made 24 appearances and scored 8 goals for the club. He finished as Everton's top league goalscorer in 1902–03 with 7 goals. Among his teammates at Everton were Samuel Wolstenholme. He was then signed for Tottenham by former Evertonian, John Cameron and went on to score 24 goals in 133 games for them. Among his teammates at Tottenham were

Vivian Woodward Vivian John Woodward (3 June 1879 – 31 January 1954) was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. He capt ...

. In January 1905 he played for a ''Professionals of the South XI'' against an ''Amateurs of the South XI'' during an

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

trial at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

. He signed for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

(then playing in the Southern League) in May 1907 and made 71 league appearances (3 goals) for the club between then and 1909. He finished his playing career with a return to Millwall Athletic as a player-coach in 1909.

Prisoner in Germany

Brearley subsequently worked as a coach at

Viktoria 89 Berlin Berliner Fußball-Club Viktoria 1889 was a German sports club based in the Tempelhof district of Berlin. Football, rugby, and cricket came to continental Europe in the late 19th century, and these "English games" became immediately popular in ...

in Germany. While there the

broke out and he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in the

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

district of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. Brearley was one of several former professional footballers at Ruhleben. Among them were his former Everton teammate, Samuel Wolstenholme, and his former manager at Tottenham, John Cameron. Others included former

internationals

Fred Pentland Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland (29 July 1883 – 16 March 1962) was an English football player and coach. Pentland played club football in the Football League for Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough, in the Southern Football League f ...

and

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem " Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at ...

and a former

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

international

Edwin Dutton Edwin Dutton (8 April 1890 – 24 May 1972) was an Anglo-German footballer and coach. Dutton played as a forward for Britannia Berlin 92, BFC Preussen, Newcastle United and Germany. During the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civ ...

. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners. Gradually a mini-society evolved and football became a popular activity. Cup and league competitions were organised and as many as 1,000 attended the bigger games. On 2 May 1915 an ''England XI'' featuring Brearley, Pentland, Wolstenholme and Bloomer played a ''World XI'' captained by Cameron. Brearley also captained the ''Barracks 10'' team that won a cup competition in 1915. He also played cricket at the camp and in May 1915 played for a ''Rubleben XI'', which also included Bloomer, against a ''Varsities XI'' in the Rubleban Cricket League. A John Brearley was also listed as one of several Freemasons at the camp. Brearley died in 1944, aged 68 or 69.

References

;Sources *''Who's Who Of Everton'' (2004): Tony Matthews *

External links

Top Scorer at Everton 1902-03
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brearley, John 1875 births 1944 deaths People from West Derby Association football forwards English footballers Kettering Town F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Everton F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players English football managers Millwall F.C. managers World War I civilian detainees held by Germany Footballers from Liverpool