John Pickering (18 December 1908 – 10 May 1977) 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 for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

between 1925 and 1948. He played in the position of

inside left 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 be ...

Life and career

Pickering learned his football at Barnsley Grammar School and Mortomley St. Saviours from where he came directly to

at the age of 17, in 1925. He was a tall, long striding attacking player, and was instantly seen as a successor to

Billy Gillespie William Ballintrae Gillespie (6 August 1891 – 2 July 1981) was an Irish football player who played as a striker for Sheffield United over a twenty-year period from 1913 to 1932, scoring over 137 League and Cup goals in 492 games for the Yo ...

at inside-forward. Pickering was a part-time player, first working as a

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...

and then an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

. He was a clever manipulator of the ball and a master of the long cross field pass which had been a feature of Sheffield United's play in the 1890s. An intelligent player, he generally lay far back behind, directing his fellow forwards with discriminating passes. Pickering became a regular first team player at the end of the 1920s as Gillespie's playing career wound down. His ball control was excellent as was his passing. He played a thoughtful studied game, simple in essence, but he was also a fast runner and began to score splendid goals with hard shots often from around the edge of the six-yard box. Yet, the United matchday programme writer in October 1930 grumbled that Pickering did not put 'enough ginger' into his play and judged him as 'moody'. He was chosen for the Football League side in 1932 and for the Rest against England in an international trial in March 1933. The Rest forward line played so well (winning 5-1) that they were all chosen to play

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 ...

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. Pickering received what turned out to be his only international cap for England in that match.England Match Details
(Retrieved 19 December 2006) Pickering scored two goals in the

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 ...

5th round tie against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

on 15 February 1936, in a match watched by a record crowd of 68,287. He possessed a strong shot and played in 39 matches in season 1935-36, scoring 17 goals as Sheffield United reached the 1936 FA Cup Final. Pickering partnered striker Bobby Barclay in the final against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

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 ...

, and both impressed with their stylish distribution and approach play. But it was not to be United's day and they lost the match 1–0. In season 1938–39, Pickering was partnered with

Jimmy Hagan James Hagan (21 January 1918 – 26 February 1998) was an English association football, football player and manager. He played between 1938 and 1958 for Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and once for England national football team, Engla ...

in possibly one of United's most exciting teams of the 1900s. When

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 ...

broke out, United were standing at the top of 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 ...

– the season was canceled after just three matches. He played in wartime matches for Sheffield United, and made eleven appearances in the team which won the League North title in season 1945-46. The first post-war season saw him make just one appearance and that was in the Championship decider against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. Pickering scored United's second goal that was to take the title to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

with United finishing sixth in Division One. In a career that spanned 22 seasons, he made his final appearance for Sheffield United against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

at Bramall Lane on 1 January 1948 when he was 39 years old. Overall, he made 344 league appearances and scored 102 league goals, in a career exclusively with United. Pickering had trained as an accountant, and he cut his formal links with the soccer world taking a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. He died aged 68.

Club statistics

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickering, Jack 1908 births 1977 deaths Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers England men's international footballers Sheffield United F.C. players Men's association football inside forwards English Football League players English Football League representative players 20th-century English sportsmen