| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John George Peart[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1888-10-03)3 October 1888[1] | ||
| Place of birth | South Shields, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 3 September 1948(1948-09-03) (aged 59)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Paddington, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1904–1907 | Adelaide South Shields | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1907–1909 | Sheffield United | 27 | (8) |
| 1909–1912 | Stoke | 44 | (38) |
| 1912–1913 | Newcastle United | 17 | (6) |
| 1913–1919 | Notts County | 82 | (51) |
| 1919 | Leeds City | ||
| 1919 | Birmingham | 3 | (0) |
| 1920 | Derby County | 9 | (1) |
| 1920–1922 | Ebbw Vale Steel & Iron Company | ||
| 1922 | Port Vale | 7 | (0) |
| 1922–1923 | Norwich City | 21 | (6) |
| 1923–1924 | Rochdale | 21 | (10) |
| Total | 231+ | (120+) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1920–1922 | Ebbw Vale Steel & Iron Company (player-manager) | ||
| 1923–1930 | Rochdale | ||
| 1930–1935 | Bradford City | ||
| 1935–1948 | Fulham | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John George Peart (3 October 1888 – 3 September 1948) was an Englishfootballer who playedcentre forward for 13 different teams in a career which spannedWorld War I. After he retired, he became a footballmanager until he died in 1948.
Peart was a centre-forward who had a nomadic career. He played for eight league clubs in a career which spanned 19 years and every division of theEnglish Football League. He also playednon-League football in theSouthern andWelsh leagues, as well as guesting for other clubs during the First World War. Peart was known as the 'most injured man in football', his worst injury being abroken leg in 1910 atStoke, which kept him out of football for two seasons.[2] As a manager, he spent a further 25 years in the Football League, and took charge atRochdale,Bradford City, andFulham. He won two minor league titles with Stoke, won theSecond Division with Notts County in 1913–14, and led Rochdale to second place in theThird Division North in 1923–24 and 1926–27.
Peart left Adelaide South Shields to sign withFirst Division sideSheffield United in 1907.[3] He scored 50 goals for thereserve team in the 1907–08 season.[4] He hit eight goals in 27 league appearances and helped the "Blades" finish 17th in1907–08 and 12th in1908–09. He then leftBramall Lane forStoke in theBirmingham & District League in 1910.[3] He spent two years at theVictoria Ground and made an impressive contribution, scoring 34 goals in 23 matches in1910–11, his run being ended by abroken leg againstCrewe Alexandra on 10 December 1910.[3] He claimed hat-tricks againstDudley Town,Wolves Reserves,Treharris Athletic, andKettering Town, and finished as theclub's joint top-scorer (withAlf Smith) despite only playing in the first half of the season. His goals helped the "Potters" to secure the Birmingham & District League title and second place in theSouthern League Division Two. After his recovery, Peart scored seven goals in 24 games in1911–12, before the directors decided to cash in on their most profitable player.[3]
He leftthe Potteries in March 1912 to return to top-flight football withNewcastle United, signing for a fee of£600.[4] Peart made 17 competitive appearances for the "Magpies", all in the Football League, comprising nine in1911–12 and eight in1912–13, and scored three goals in each of those seasons. His first appearance for the club came atSt James' Park on 16 March 1912 againstMiddlesbrough, and he scored his first goal the following week againstNotts County.[5]
He was sold to Notts County in February 1913,[6] and finished as theclub's top-scorer in 1912–13 with just seven goals, as County wererelegated into theSecond Division. He hit 28 league goals in1913–14 to fire the club topromotion as divisional champions – he was also the division's joint top-scorer, withSammy Stevens. He scored 11 goals in1914–15, again finishing as the club's top-scorer. In his six years atMeadow Lane, he scored 51 goals in 82 league appearances. DuringWorld War I he served as acorporal in theArmy and also guested forRochdale,Leeds United, Stoke andBarnsley.[6][7] He scored 71 goals in 107 appearances atElland Road.[6]
After a time withLeeds City, he played three Second Division games forBirmingham in the1919–20 season, before moving on toDerby County in January 1920.[6] He scored one goal in nine league games before departing theBaseball Ground.
In 1920 he joined Ebbw Vale Steel & Iron Company asplayer-manager. However, he resigned his post in January 1922, returning to the English Second Division withPort Vale.[1] Injury limited his contribution to the Vale's1921–22 campaign to just seven appearances and he was released from hiscontract atThe Old Recreation Ground in the summer.[1]
At 34 years old, Peart joinedNorwich City in theThird Division South for the1922–23 season. He was appointed player-manager of Rochdale in March 1923, retiring as a player in the1923–24 season with a Rochdale tally of 10 goals in 22 senior games.[8]
Peart was only 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), but was physically imposing and was known as "the nightmare of goalkeepers".[4] However, he was also skilful, adept at flicking the ball on to his teammates despite his tendency to lose the ball by attempting to beat the entire defence by himself.[4] Despite his physique, he was prone to injury.[4]
Peart spent a short period as player-manager at Ebbw Vale, before managingRochdale from 1923 to 1930. He took the "Dale" to a second-place finish in theThird Division North in1923–24; they were one point behind championsWolverhampton Wanderers, but only Wolves were promoted. Rochdale then finished sixth in1924–25, before finishing third in1925–26, just two points behind championsGrimsby Town. They again narrowly missed out on promotion in1926–27, after ending the campaign in second place, five points behind championsStoke. TheSpotland club then dropped to 13th in1927–28, 17th in1928–29 and tenth in1929–30.
He left Rochdale to becomemanager ofBradford City, taking over from the club's most successful manager,Peter O'Rourke, in July 1930. During his five years atValley Parade, he maintained the club's position in the Second Division. Still, he had offered to resign at the end of1933–34 before agreeing to see out the final two years of his contract.[2] They tallied 44 points in1930–31, 45 points in1931–32, 41 points in1932–33, and 46 points in 1933–34. With the club struggling above the relegation zone in1934–35, he left the "Bantams" in March 1935 and was replaced byDick Ray.
In 1935, he joinedFulham as manager, replacingJimmy Hogan.[9] He took the club to the semi-finals of theFA Cup in1935–36, where a 2–1 defeat toSheffield United atMolineux cost them a place in the1936 FA Cup final.[4] He then led the "Cottagers" to mid-table finishes in the Second Division in the1936–37,1937–38, and1938–39 campaigns. He remained in charge atCraven Cottage throughoutWorld War II, and led the club to two further mid-table finishes in1946–47 and1947–48. He was still manager at the time of his death in September 1948, a month before his 60th birthday. The team he built went on to win the Second Division championship inthe same season under the stewardship of directorFrank Osborne.[10]
Peart was married to Margaret Joan Fraser; their son was the doctor andclinical researcher SirStanley Peart.[11][12]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sheffield United | 1907–08 | First Division | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 1908–09 | First Division | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 6 | |
| 1909–10 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 27 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 8 | ||
| Stoke | 1910–11 | Birmingham & District League /Southern League Division Two | 21 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 34 |
| 1911–12 | Southern League Division One | 23 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 7 | |
| Total | 44 | 38 | 3 | 3 | 47 | 41 | ||
| Newcastle United | 1911–12 | First Division | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| 1912–13 | First Division | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | |
| Total | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | ||
| Notts County | 1912–13 | First Division | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 |
| 1913–14 | First Division | 30 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 29 | |
| 1914–15 | First Division | 32 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 11 | |
| 1919–20 | First Division | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 5 | |
| Total | 82 | 51 | 2 | 1 | 84 | 52 | ||
| Birmingham | 1919–20 | Second Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Derby County | 1919–20 | First Division | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Port Vale | 1921–22 | Second Division | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Norwich City | 1922–23 | Third Division South | 21 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 8 |
| Rochdale | 1922–23 | Third Division North | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
| 1922–23 | Third Division North | 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 6 | |
| Total | 21 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 10 | ||
| Career total | 231 | 120 | 10 | 6 | 241 | 126 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Rochdale | 1 February 1923 | 31 July 1930 | 317 | 152 | 58 | 107 | 047.95 |
| Bradford City | 31 July 1930 | 1 March 1935 | 208 | 79 | 52 | 77 | 037.98 |
| Fulham | 1 May 1935 | 1 September 1948 | 275 | 104 | 71 | 100 | 037.82 |
| Total[14] | 800 | 335 | 181 | 284 | 041.88 | ||
Stoke City[15]
Notts County[15]