Albert Edward Jepson (9 November 1902 – 18 December 1981) 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 lea ...

who played as an

outside right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in the 1920s and 1930s.

Career

Huddersfield Town

Jepson was born in

Glasshoughton Glasshoughton is a neighbourhood of Castleford in the City of Wakefield, Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. The area is next to Junction 32 of the M62 motorway and the Glasshoughton railway station, and borders Pontefract. Glassho ...

, near

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in West Yorkshire and after leaving school worked in the coal mines, playing football with

Frickley Colliery Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery was opened by the Carlton Main Colliery Company Ltd in 1903 in South Elmsall, in Yorkshire, England. Frickley & South Elmsall Colliery The first sod was cut on 23 April 1903 of shafts No.1 and No.2 and the ...

in the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

. He had previously played for Castleford Town and Allerton United. He was a late-comer to professional football. Just after his 25th birthday, he was taken on by

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in May 1927. At that time, Huddersfield were one of the top English football clubs, having won the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for three consecutive seasons in the mid-1920s, finishing as runners-up in 1926–27. With Scottish international Alex Jackson well-established at No. 7, Jepson had to content himself with a year in the reserves as Huddersfield again finished the season as League runners-up, coupled with a trip to

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 the London Borou ...

for the 1928 FA Cup final, where they were defeated 3–1 by

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

Southampton

In August 1928, Jepson was one of seven new signings as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Arthur Chadwick Arthur Chadwick (July 1875 – 21 March 1936) was a professional footballer whose playing career as a centre-half included spells at Portsmouth and Southampton, before going on to be manager at Exeter City, Reading and Southampton. He also mad ...

started to re-build a side that had finished a disappointing 17th in 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 ...

in the previous season. Jepson went straight into the first team, making his debut in the opening match of the 1928–29 season, a 2–2 draw at

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. Jepson was injured in that match and had to sit out the next two matches before settling into the

position. In December 1928, he lost his place to

Bobby Weale Robert Henry Weale (16 December 1905 – 8 December 1952) was a Welsh footballer who played as an outside right for various clubs in England and Wales in the 1920s and 1930s. Football career West Ham United Weale was born in Troed-y-rhiw in G ...

, who had just been signed from

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

for a then club record of £1,000 Jepson regained his place at the end of March, playing in five of the last seven matches of the season, scoring three goals, as the "Saints" improved their league performance with a fourth-place finish. Weale was back in favour for the start of the 1929–30 season, but by mid-season, his form had become erratic, and Jepson was recalled to the side in March, playing in the last nine matches, scoring three goals which came in three successive matches in April. With Weale leaving The Dell in the summer of 1930, Jepson made the No. 7 shirt his own, missing only two matches during the 1930–31 season, in which the Saints finished in mid-table. Jepson again started the following season on the right, scoring in the season's opening match. Still, an injury in November put him out for several weeks before returning for another four games in January, when he was again injured. During his absences from the side, manager

George Kay George Kay may refer to: * George Kay (footballer), English footballer and manager * George Kay (minister), Scottish minister * George Kay (writer), English screenwriter * George Frederick Kay, American geologist See also * George Kaye (disam ...

tried seven different players on the right wing before Dick Neal was signed in February. Neal's arrival brought Jepson's career with Southampton to an end, and although he was happy to remain with the club, he was put on the

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

list at a fee of £500. With no offers at this fee and the club struggling with increasing levels of debt, he was given a free transfer to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

in June 1932 (together with fellow forwards

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play '' ...

and

Arthur Haddleton Arthur Haddleton (6 April 1910 – 5 January 1971) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward for various clubs in the 1930s. Despite showing promise in the early part of his career, he eventually achieved very little, although he ...

) having made 95 appearances for the Saints, scoring 18 goals.

Later career

At Fulham, he found his favoured place at outside right occupied by another international, Welshman Billy Richards, and spent a frustrating season in the reserves. In May 1933, he returned to the south coast, joining

where he played two seasons 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 ...

before retiring in 1935. After retiring from football, he became the manager of the Belgravia Dairy in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he guested for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

and Swansea Town, and in 1948, now aged 45, he was granted a special permit to join

Sussex League The Southern Combination Football League (named Premier Sports Southern Combination Football League) is a football league broadly covering the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and South West London, England. The league consists of e ...

side

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

as their player-

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

Personal life

He had a daughter by the name of Doreen.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jepson, Bert 1902 births 1981 deaths Footballers from Castleford English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Castleford Town F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Hove United F.C. players English Football League players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Swansea Town A.F.C. wartime guest players 20th-century English sportsmen