John Reynolds (21 February 1869 – 12 March 1917) was a footballer who played for, among others,

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 pl ...

, Aston Villa and Celtic. He was the first player to represent both

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

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 ...

internationally. Reynolds won 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 ...

with

in 1892 and was a prominent member of the successful Aston Villa team of the 1890s, winning three English League titles and two

s, including a double in 1897. As an international he played five times for Ireland before it emerged that he was actually English and he subsequently played eight times for England. He is the only player to score for and against England (barring own goals) and was the only player to play for both Ireland and England until Declan Rice did so 120 years later.

Club career

Early years

Although born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, Lancashire, Reynolds grew up in Ahoghill in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, Ireland and attended schools in Portglenone and Ballymena. By the age of 15 he was back in Blackburn playing with, among others

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. Th ...

reserves. In December 1886 he joined 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 was posted back to Ireland with the

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nottingh ...

. While in Ireland he also played for the regimental team. In 1888 he also began playing for Distillery where his teammates included Olphert Stanfield and Billy Crone. He also played for Distillery in an

tie against one of his former clubs Blackburn Park Road F.C. He missed the 1888–89 season due to suspension but despite this Distillery bought him out of the army in time for the 1889–90 season and Reynolds helped the club reach the final of the

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Fo ...

. In June 1890 he joined Ulster F.C., a now defunct

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

team. In 1891 Reynolds helped this team finish runners-up to Linfield in both the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

and the very first

Irish Football League Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

West Bromwich Albion

In March 1891, Reynolds joined

(WBA) and it was subsequently discovered that he was actually English. During his debut 1891–92 season with WBA he played 17 games and scored 2 goals. He also won the first of his three

winners medals, scoring for WBA in the 1892 FA Cup final as they beat Aston Villa 3–0. During the 1892–93 season he played a further 20 games and scored one more goal for WBA. This was WBA's first ever penalty in a First Division game and it came against

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 ...

on 3 April 1893. During his time with WBA he also briefly played for Droitwich Town either as a guest or on loan. After falling out with the WBA management committee, Reynolds was sold to Aston Villa for a fee of £50.

Aston Villa

Between 1892 and 1897, Reynolds made 96 league appearances and scored 17 goals for Aston Villa. His time at Villa was the most successful period of his career and he was a prominent member of a very successful team, helping them win the English League in 1894, 1896 and 1897. Reynolds also played a further 14 times for Villa in the

and helped them win the competition in 1895 and 1897. The 1895 final saw him face his former club WBA.

Later career

After leaving Aston Villa, Reynolds turned out for Celtic, and then

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 ...

, during the 1897–98 season. Although both teams won their respective league titles Reynolds made little or no contribution and his career was in decline, albeit he did score once for Celtic in a 2–1 win over Hibernian. He subsequently played for a further five clubs on a semi-professional basis, including a spell as a player/coach in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He eventually retired as a player in April 1905 and worked as a coach at Cardiff City during the 1907–08 season. After retiring from football he settled in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

where he worked as a collier until his death in 1917.

International career

Ireland

Between 1890 and 1891, while playing for Distillery and Ulster F.C., Reynolds made five appearances for

, four as a half-back and one as winger. He made his debut for Ireland on 8 February 1890 in a 5–2 defeat to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Then on 15 March he played against

and scored Ireland's only goal in the 9–1 defeat. This was the only international in which he played as a winger. During the 1891 British Home Championship he played in all three of Ireland's games.

England

While playing for WBA and Aston Villa, Reynolds made eight appearances as a half-back for England. He made his England debut at the age of 23 in 1892 against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He scored for England in the 6–0 win over

in 1893 and the 2–2 draw with Scotland in 1894, but not in his only match against Ireland. He helped England win three British Home Championship titles. Reynolds made his last appearance for England against Scotland in 1897 at the age of 28. He also played for the Football League XI on four occasions. Some sources credit him with a goal in a 5–2 victory against Scotland on 1 April 1893, but it is now accepted that this goal completed a hat-trick by

Fred Spiksley Fred Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford. After retiri ...

Style of play

Reynolds was noted as a highly competitive player with some remarkable ball skills and exceptionally brilliant footwork. He was regarded as one of the great footballers of the 1890s and was one of the highest paid players of his generation.

Personal life

Reynolds gained a reputation for drinking and womanising and as result much of the money he earned disappeared. He fathered at least one illegitimate child and in 1899 he appeared in court for non-payment of child maintenance. His heavy drinking blighted his latter career and after brief spells at Celtic and then

, he became a semi-professional journeyman. Towards the end of his life he worked as a miner in

and he died alone in a boarding house at the age of 48. Reynolds and his career have been the subject of several lectures, including one entitled ''How to play football, win friends and die young: The life of John Reynolds'', given by Dr. Neal Garnham at the University of Ulster.

Honours

Distillery *

runners-up: 1889–90 Ulster *

runners-up: 1890–91 *

runners-up: 1890–91 West Bromwich Albion *

winners:

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

Aston Villa *