Samuel Richard Jepp (22 February 1885 – 1968) was an English professional

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 ...

who played in various defence positions for

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

and Swansea Town in the early twentieth century.

Football career

Jepp was born in Northtown,

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alde ...

, Hampshire and played his youth football with Aldershot Athletic before joining the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

. On leaving the Army, Jepp returned to Aldershot before being signed by

of the Southern League in 1907. He made his debut for the "Saints" on 15 February 1908, when he replaced former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

international Harry Hadley at left-half in a 4–0 defeat at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

. He made four further appearances in the 1907–08 season, including each of the half-back positions and at

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. In 1908–09, he had two runs in the side with six matches at left-half in October (replacing John Johnston with Bert Trueman switching to the right), and twelve matches from mid-January at

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

whilst Frank Thorpe was out with injury. His longest period in the side came in the 1909–10 season, when he took over from new signing Andrew Davidson after the first six matches, retaining the No. 5 shirt for the remainder of the season. Jepp started the following season as the regular centre-half, before losing his place to Frank Monk after five matches. Although Jepp made a further four appearances later in the season, including playing as

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...

on New Year's Eve, he was unable to regain a regular place in the side and was released in the summer of 1911. After spending a season back in northern Hampshire with South Farnborough Athletic, Jepp became one of Swansea Town's first professional players in 1912, and scored one goal in twenty league appearances. By the start of World War I, Jepp had returned to Aldershot and his football career was over.

Family

His son, also Samuel Richard Jepp, was killed at

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near t ...

on 24 June 1942 while serving with the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jepp, Sam 1885 births 1968 deaths Sportspeople from Aldershot English footballers Association football defenders Southampton F.C. players South Farnborough Athletic F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Southern Football League players Footballers from Hampshire 20th-century British Army personnel Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers Military personnel from Aldershot