David Bone Nightingale Jack (April
3, 1899 -
September 10, 1958)
was an English
footballer, son of
Bob Jack,
and the first footballer in the world to be transferred for more than £10,000.
An inside forward, born in
Bolton, Jack
started his career at his father's club,
Plymouth Argyle in
1919, scoring 11 goals in 48 appearances. In
1920 he returned to
the town of his birth, moving to
Bolton Wanderers for £3,500. He spent eight seasons with the Trotters,
forming a formidable partnership with
Joe Smith. While at Bolton, he made history by being the first person to
score a goal at
Wembley Stadium, in the
1923 FA Cup final. A
year later, he won his first
England cap, the first of nine; he scored three times for his country.
He won the Cup again with Bolton in
1926. In
1928 he was signed
by
Herbert Chapman's
Arsenal
for £10,890 (nearly double the previous record); famously, Chapman negotiated
the transfer with Bolton's representatives in a hotel bar, his tactic being to
drink
gin and tonics without any gin in them, while letting the other side drink
as much as they possibly could.
Jack was a success at
Highbury, becoming a regular straight away, and was the club's top scorer
through the late
1920s and early
1930s. He won three
League Championship titles and another FA Cup winners medal. By
1933-34
he was reaching the end of his career, and retired after winning his third
league medal, in 1934. In all he scored 124 times in 208 matches for Arsenal,
making him the ninth-best goalscorer in the club's history.
After retiring from playing, he went on to become manager of
Southend United from May 1934 to August
1940, and then
Middlesbrough from November
1944 to April
1952.
