Samuel Jennings (26 December 1898 – 21 August 1944) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

and football manager. A tall player, he was a goal-scoring

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, with a ratio of a goal every two games. After playing for various amateur sides, he joined

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 ...

in 1919, moving on 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 ...

the following year. In 1921 he signed with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, where he would make his name over a three-year stay with 45 goals in 110 league games. After a season with

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 ...

, he signed with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in 1925. Again prolific, he scored 61 goals in 110 games, and won a transfer to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in 1928. Moving 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 1929, he bagged 42 goals in 63 league games. In the 1930s he enjoyed short spells at

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 ...

and

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 ...

, before settling in France with

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

and

Club Français Club Français was a French association football club based in Paris which was founded in 1890. Club Français won the 1896 USFSA Football Championship and Coupe de France Final 1931. In 1900 the USFSA elected players from Club Français to ...

. He later returned to England to turn out for non-league sides

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

and

Wisbech Town Wisbech Town Football Club is a football club based near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Fenland Stadium. History Although a Wisbech Town existed in the 1890s, the current club was estab ...

. After retiring as a player he took charge at

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

in 1936, before taking charge of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

the following year. He also served as a coach across France and England.

Playing career

Jennings played for Highbury Vale Methodists, Basford United, 5th Reserve Battalion Coldstream Guards, and Basford National Ordnance Factory, before joining

in 1919. The "Canaries" finished 12th in the Southern League in 1919–20. He then moved on to

, and scored twice in ten First Division appearances in 1920–21. Jennings then signed with

, who went on to finish the 1921–22 campaign 13th in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. The "Royals" then dropped to 19th and 18th in 1922–23 and 1923–24. In his three years at

Elm Park Elm Park is a suburban planned community in East London within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is identified as a district centre in the London Plan with several streets of shops and a priority for r ...

he scored 45 goals in 110 league games. He returned to the top-flight with

, but was limited to three goals in nine games in 1924–25. He quickly returned to the Third Division South with

, who posted a fifth-place finish in 1925–26. He finished as the club's top scorer in 1926–27 and 1927–28 with 20 and 27 goals respectively, as the "Seagulls" finished in fourth position. He spent 1928–29 with

, and was the club's top scorer in 1928–29 with 17 goals in league and cup competitions. He joined

in May 1929 and scored twice on his debut, in a 2–1 win over

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

The Shay The Shay is a sports stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is owned by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and leased by the Shay Stadium Trust, a not-for-profit company set up to preserve the ground as a sports stadiu ...

. He built up a successful partnership with

Albert Pynegar Albert Pynegar (24 September 1895 – 1978) was an English footballer who played at inside-forward for Eastwood Rangers, Sutton Town, Leicester City, Coventry City, Oldham Athletic, Port Vale, Chesterfield, and Rotherham United. He helped Por ...

despite the pair falling out off the pitch. He bagged a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

on 8 March 1930. He finished as the club's top scorer for the 1929–30 season with 27 goals in just 33 games, helping the club to the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

title. He scored four goals in an 8–2 thrashing of

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

on 22 September 1930, and ended up with 17 goals in 32 games in 1930–31 to become club's leading marksman for a second successive campaign. He hit two goals on the opening day of the 1931–32 season, in a 3–1 win over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.

. He would train by throwing the ball up the pitch and race his

greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

to where it landed. He was transferred to Third Division North side

in September 1931, later returning to the Second Division with

in 1931–32. He then travelled to France for the first ever season of the

Ligue de Football Professionnel The Ligue de Football Professionnel (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority o ...

. He scored four goals in 14 games, as Marseilles finished second behind

Olympique Lillois Olympique Lillois was a French association football club from the city of Lille. Founded in 1902 they merged with SC Fives in 1944 to form Lille OSC. Honours Championnat de France *Champion: 1914, 1933 *Runner-up: 1936 Events Jan ...

. Jennings moved on to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

, before returning to England to play for

and

Coaching and management career

Jennings became an instructor at

during his time at the club. He later became secretary-coach at

and a coach at

. He was also manager of

, and led the club to a 17th-place finish in the

in 1937–38.

World War II

He fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He died at Darvel Hall in

Robertsbridge Robertsbridge is a village in the civil parish of Salehurst and Robertsbridge, and the Rother district of East Sussex, England. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Hastings and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Royal Tunbridge ...

on 21 August 1944 – he had two bouts of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

which made him prone to chills – and was buried at Hastings crematorium eight days later.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source:

Managerial statistics

Honours

;Port Vale *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

: 1929–30

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Sam 1898 births 1944 deaths People from Nottingham (district) Footballers from Nottinghamshire People from Robertsbridge English footballers Association football forwards Norwich City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Reading F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Notts County F.C. wartime guest players Port Vale F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Burnley F.C. players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Olympique de Marseille players Club Français players Scarborough F.C. players Wisbech Town F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Ligue 1 players Association football coaches English football managers Glentoran F.C. managers Rochdale A.F.C. managers English Football League managers Deaths from pneumonia in England British military personnel of World War II