John Joseph Jeffers (5 October 1968 – 20 January 2021) 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 as a left-winger. He scored 18 goals in 297 league and cup appearances in a 12-year career 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 ...

. He began his career with

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 ...

in October 1986, but never made a first team appearance before he was sold on to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in February 1989 for a £30,000 fee. He helped the "Valiants" to win promotion out of the third tier in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and 1993–94. Known for his dribbling and jinking runs, he was nicknamed "Jinking John Jeffers" by Vale supporters. He was loaned out to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

in January 1995, he was allowed to join

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

in November 1995. He helped the "Hatters" to win promotion out of 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 ...

and to reach the semi-finals of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

in 1996–97. In October 1997, he moved into non-league football with

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

, before retiring from professional football at the end of the season.

Career

Port Vale

Jeffers turned professional at

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

in October 1986, but was never able to provide too much first-team competition for

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to cent ...

, and never featured at

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 was loaned out to

as cover for the injured Paul Atkinson in December 1988; he was recalled by the "Reds" in February 1989 but was brought back to Port Vale permanently the next month for a fee of £30,000. To fund the transfer Rudge sold

Steve Harper Stephen Alan Harper (born 14 March 1975) is an English former professional footballer, and currently first team coach for Newcastle United and goalkeeping coach for the Northern Ireland national team. He is best known for his time playing at ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

for £35,000. He featured in 15 Third Division games in the 1988–89 season, and featured in all four play-off games, including both legs of the play-off final victory over

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 ...

. He scored his first league goal on 4 November 1989, in a 2–1 defeat to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

. He played a total of 46 games in the 1989–90 season, as the "Valiants" posted a top-half finish in the

. He scored twice in 36 games during the 1990–91 campaign, but started to become plagued by

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...

injuries from March onwards. He scored three goals in 38 appearances in the 1991–92 season, as the "Valiants" suffered relegation in last place. He scored twice in 34 games in the 1992–93 season, but did not feature at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

either in the League Trophy Final win over

or the play-off Final defeat to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. He did though help

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

's side to win promotion with a second-place finish in the 1993–94 campaign; they finished just one point behind champions

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. He lost his first-team place in the 1994–95 season, as Vale posted a 17th-place finish in the second tier (known as the First Division due to the creation of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Later career

Jeffers went on a one-month loan to Fred Davies's

in January 1995, and featured in three Second Division games at

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was the home ground of Shrewsbury Town football club in Shropshire, England. Just outside the town centre, on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League season and t ...

. In August 1995, he had a trial with Second Division

, before he was allowed to join the club on a free transfer in November 1995. Dave Jones's County finished just three points outside the play-offs in 1995–96, with Jeffers playing 23 league games. He scored three goals in 34 league and eight

appearances in the 1996–97 season, as he helped the "Hatters" to win promotion as runners-up; they finished just two points behind champions

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. The club also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, defeating

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Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on the way. In the semi-finals, they lost 2–0 to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1903, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in. Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium hold ...

, and exited the competition despite managing a 1–0 win at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...

. Despite these successes, he joined

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

club

in October 1997, and then left

Keys Park Keys Park, which is currently known as The PRG Roofing and Construction ground, is the home of the Hednesford Town Football Club, and is situated on Keys Park Road in the town of Hednesford, Staffordshire. The club previously played at the Cros ...

and retired at the close of the 1997–98 season.

Style of play

Jeffers was a skilful and entertaining, though inconsistent winger. His talent made him a cult hero at Port Vale, where he was known as ‘Jinking Johnny’ , though he could be prone to overplaying rather than delivering timely crosses.

Personal life

John Jeffers died on 19 January 2021, aged 52, following a long illness. He had two sons: John and Gabriel.

Career statistics

Honours

Port Vale *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

play-offs:

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

second-place promotion: 1993–94 Stockport County *

second-place promotion: 1996–97

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffers, John 1968 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Liverpool English footballers Association football wingers Liverpool F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players