John Sheldon (born January 1887) 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

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 ...

during the early part of the 20th century.

Life and playing career

Sheldon was born in

Clay Cross Clay Cross is a town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is a former industrial and mining town, about south of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield. It is directly ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England, and played for Nuneaton and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

before being signed by the Liverpool manager Tom Watson in November 1913. Sheldon made his Liverpool debut on 29 November 1913 in the 2–1

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 ...

win over

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. He scored his first goal the following month on 6 December at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

. The winger went on to miss only three games for the remainder of the 1913/14 season which included the whole of 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 ...

run when Liverpool reached their first final on 25 April 1914. The game was the last final held at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

ground and the first time to be played in front of a reigning monarch,

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

won 1–0 and it was another 51 years before Liverpool won the FA Cup. Sheldon had a decent 1914/15 season finishing second on Liverpool's appearance list and third on the goalscoring list. That season however, he became notorious for his part in the

1915 British football betting scandal The 1915 British football betting scandal occurred when a Football League First Division match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on 2 April (Good Friday) 1915 was fixed in United's favour, with players from both sides benefit ...

, of which he was found to be the ringleader. He was banned – initially for life – along with the other players involved in the match fixing plot, but shortly afterward the start of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

saw the suspension of league football anyway. At the end of the war his ban was lifted, and he returned to Liverpool where the following two years were much like those before the war, with Sheldon only missing 12 games during this period. Sheldon was forced into early retirement due to injury. His final game for Liverpool was on 16 April 1921 in a league match against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, the game finishing 1–1.

Career details

* Manchester United F.C. (1910–1913) 26 appearances, 1 goal – Division 1 winner (1910/11) * Liverpool F.C. (1913–1921) 147 appearances, 20 goals – FA Cup runners-up medal (1914)

External links

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Jackie 1887 births Footballers from Chesterfield English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Nuneaton Town F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Everton F.C. wartime guest players Middlesex Regiment soldiers Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Date of birth missing Date of death missing Place of death missing 20th-century British Army personnel

Life and playing career

Career details

See also

External links