Caesar Augustus Llewellyn Jenkyns (24 August 1866 – 23 July 1941
/ref>) was a Welsh international

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 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

Small Heath Small Heath is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman t ...

, Woolwich Arsenal,

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

Playing career

Born in

Builth Wells Builth Wells (; ) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of the Wye Valley. In 20 ...

, Jenkyns played for a number of English clubs, as well as winning eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. After playing for several amateur sides in the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

area, Jenkyns joined

(later renamed Birmingham) in 1888, despite aggressive interest from

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, who were looking to poach players from Unity Gas and Aston Shakespeare, which Jenkyns even more aggressively rebuffed. Jenkyns was at Small Heath as they first joined the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

in 1889 and then became founder members of the

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 tier ...

in 1892. By now he had made his debut for Wales and was club captain; he skippered Small Heath to promotion to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

in 1894, beating

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

3–1 in a test match. Known as one of the most rugged defenders of his era, he was sent off four times while playing for Small Heath and that at a time when such occurrences were extremely rare. His career at Small Heath ended in March 1895 when he was released after an incident at

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

where, after being ordered from the field, he attempted to assault two spectators. Jenkyns moved to London in April 1895, joining Woolwich Arsenal, who had joined the Second Division less than two years ago. He was immediately made Arsenal captain, and made his mark in Arsenal history by becoming the club's first ever international player, after winning a cap for Wales against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 21 March 1896. Playing at centre-half (which in those days was a

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

position), Jenkyns scored six times in 27 matches for Arsenal and was regarded by the club as one of their star players. However, his stay at the Gunners did not last long; in the summer of 1896 he moved to

(who later became Manchester United). Jenkyns made his debut for the club on 1 September 1896 against

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

. He spent two seasons with the

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

club, taking over as captain from James McNaught, helping them to runners-up position in the Second Division in 1897. In November 1897, he left the club for

, where he spent five years before joining

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. After retirement, Jenkyns ran a public house in Moxley, The George Inn, before joining the police force.

Career statistics

International

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkyns, Caesar 1866 births 1941 deaths Officers in English police forces Sportspeople from Builth Wells Footballers from Powys Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Birmingham City F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Football Alliance players English Football League players Publicans Welsh police officers