Jack Almond

John Almond (born 6 November 1876) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Born in Darlington, County Durham, he spent the majority of his career in and around the Yorkshire area with spells at Leeds City, Bradford City, Doncaster Rovers and Sheffield United where he played over 100 games, winning the First Division championship in 1898 and gaining an FA Cup winners medal having scored in the 1899 final.

Jack Almond
Personal information
Full name John Almond
Date of birth (1876-11-06)6 November 1876
Place of birth Darlington, England
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Bishop Auckland
1894–1896 Darlington
1896–1901 Sheffield United 109 (21)
1901 Gainford
1901–1903 Millwall Athletic
1904–1905 Leeds City
1905 Bradford City 0 (0)
1905–1906 Doncaster Rovers (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Almond started his career playing in his local area and soon came to prominence whilst at Darlington, leading him to be signed by Sheffield United.[1] Whilst in Yorkshire Almond was initially a regular in the side, with his goals helping The Blades to be crowned English champions in 1898 and win the FA Cup in 1899, having scored United's third goal in the final. However a loss of form led to him losing his first team place and he was overlooked when United reached the FA Cup final again in 1901.[1]

Disappointed to be frozen out of the team Almond quit the club and professional football to take over a pub in Gainford near his home town of Darlington.[1] After a few months as a publican and playing for the local amateur side he returned to senior football signing for Millwall Athletic before returning to Yorkshire for spells at Leeds City, Bradford City and Doncaster Rovers.[1] He later turned out for Doncaster GNER.[2]

Personal life

Almond was the son of a wealthy Yorkshire brewer and was reported to have inherited between £6,000 and £12,000 when his father died in 1897 - a huge sum of money for the time.[1] After he finished playing it was reported that he was working in the Doncaster locomotive works in 1910 but there is little evidence of what happened to him after that. It was initially reported that he had died in Liverpool in 1912 but there were two reports in the Sheffield press of him attending a game in Leeds in 1931, stating that he was the assistant manager of the Griffin Hotel in the city and was set to move to run a hotel in Bangor.[1]

Career statistics

Jack Almond at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sheffield United 1896–97 Division One 20 5 0 0 — 20 5
1897–98 20 8 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 1 22 9
1898–99 14 1 6 1 — 20 2
1899–00 30 2 5 1 — 35 3
1900–01 25 5 1 0 — 26 5
Total 109 21 13 2 1 1 123 24
  1. Appearance in Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Honours

Sheffield United

References
  1. Denis Clarebrough & Andrew Kirkham (2008). Sheffield United Who's Who. Hallamshire Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-874718-69-7.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2012) [2002]. Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-905891-61-0.
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