Robert Jack (4 April 1876 – 6 May 1943) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

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 ...

. Born in

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; , possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where some say it ceases to ...

, Jack played 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

and

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

, and the Southern League for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. He was an

outside forward 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 ...

. Jack is Argyle's most successful and longest-serving manager. During his 29 years in charge, the club won two league championships and established itself in the Second Division of the Football League. Jack also managed Southend for four years. His son,

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, scored the first goal at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

Playing career

Jack began his career with

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. According to the official club hist ...

, making his debut at the age of 15 and turning professional in 1893. He moved to

in 1895. He was Bolton's leading scorer in the 1896–97 season with 11 goals. He played a total for 110 league and 15

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

games for the club, scoring 29 goals. He left Bolton in August 1901, following a serious ankle injury.Bob Jack
Greens on Screen. Retrieved 25 February 2010. He joined local rivals

after scoring 29 goals in 110 league games for Bolton. He spent just one season with Preston, scoring 6 goals in 22 league games, before returning home for a short spell with Alloa at the start of 1902/03, then joining

in late September. After a further 6 goals in 30 appearances he moved to

, becoming the club's first professional in 1903. He made his Argyle debut in September 1903 against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in the Western League. In

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

, the club's handbook described him as "our famous flier, probably last season was the best in the player's history".

Managerial career

Following the departure of Frank Brettell, Jack became player-manager of Plymouth Argyle in 1905, 1905–06, and led the club to third in the Western League and fifth in the Southern League. He left the club in the summer to take up the position of player-manager at

. In his first two seasons with Southend they twice won the Southern League Second Division title, gaining election to the Southern League First Division in 1908. He retired as a player at the end of the 1909–10 season and re-joined Plymouth Argyle as manager, remaining in charge at Home Park until April 1938 when he retired. During his 28 seasons in charge, Jack had guided Argyle to the Southern League title in 1913 and into

in 1920. In their first season in the league they finished 11th in the Third Division, but finished runners-up in all of the next six seasons. They finally clinched the title and promotion in the 1929–30 season. In total, he took charge of 1,093 matches for the "Pilgrims".

Later life

Jack lived in

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

during his retirement, occasionally working as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for his son

while he was manager at Southend. In addition to David, two of his other sons, (

Rollo Rollo (, ''Rolloun''; ; ; – 933), also known with his epithet, Rollo "the Walker", was a Viking who, as Count of Rouen, became the first ruler of Normandy, a region in today's northern France. He was prominent among the Vikings who Siege o ...

and

Donald Donald is a Scottish masculine given name. It is derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinter ...

), also played professionally for

. Despite being Scottish, Jack represented England at

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

for several years, including being Captain. He won the English Bowling Association Singles Championship in 1926. His ashes were scattered over the pitch at

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in the area of Milehouse, Plymouth, Devon, England. With a capacity of 17,900, the ground has been the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club since 1903, and was also used between 1900 and 1903 by Argyle Athlet ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Career statistics

Managerial honours

;

* Southern League Second Division **Winner (2): 1906–07, 1907–08 ;

* Southern League First Division **Winner (1): 1912–13 **Runner-up (1): 1911–12 *

Football League 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 ...

**Winner (1): 1929–30 **Runner-up (6): 1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27

References

;General * * * ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jack, Bob 1876 births 1943 deaths Footballers from Alloa Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Alloa Athletic F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Glossop North End A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Southend United F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Western Football League players Scottish football managers Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers Southend United F.C. managers English Football League managers English male bowls players