Jack Short (footballer)

Jack Short

Personal information
Full name	John Short[1]
Date of birth	18 February 1928
Place of birth	Great Houghton, Barnsley, England[1]
Date of death	10 October 1976 (aged 48)[1]
Place of death	Barnsley, England[1]
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
1948–1950	Wath Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1950–1954	Wolverhampton Wanderers	98	(0)
1954–1956	Stoke City	55	(2)
1956–1960	Barnsley	109	(0)
Total		262	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

John "Jack" Short (18 February 1928 – 10 October 1976) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Barnsley, Stoke City and Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[1]

Career

Short was born in Darfield, near Barnsley and joined Wolverhampton Wanderers from non-league Wath Wanderers. He broke into Wolves' first team in December 1950 and played a key role as Stan Cullis' side reached the FA Cup semi final in 1950–51 losing in a replay to Newcastle United. Short spent the next three seasons at Molineux making the right back position his own and even played as a makeshift centre forward in January 1952 where he scored twice against Manchester City in the FA Cup. However injury saw him miss the remainder of the 1952–53 campaign and he played 27 times in 1953–54 as Wolves won the First Division title.^[1]

He left for Staffordshire rivals Stoke City in the summer of 1954 with Stoke aiming for a return to the top-flight.^[1] He played 31 times in 1954–55 as the "Potters" finished in 5th position with Short again being used as a back up forward scoring twice against Swansea Town in November 1954.^[1] He played 33 times in 1955–56 as Stoke ended in a poor position of 13th and Short was given a free transfer to his hometown club Barnsley.^[1] He was regular for the "Tykes" for three seasons which ended with relegation to the Third Division in 1958–59 and he retired a year later.^[1] Short collapsed and died in October 1976 after a playing in a charity football match in Wombwell.

Career statistics

• Sourced from Jack Short profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1950–51	First Division	18	0	7	0	25	0
	1951–52	First Division	25	0	1	2	26	2
	1952–53	First Division	29	0	0	0	29	0
	1953–54	First Division	26	0	1	0	27	0
	Total		98	0	9	2	107	2
Stoke City	1954–55	Second Division	25	2	6	0	31	2
	1955–56	Second Division	30	0	3	0	33	0
	Total		55	2	9	0	64	2
Barnsley	1956–57	Second Division	27	0	4	0	31	0
	1957–58	Second Division	38	0	2	0	40	0
	1958–59	Second Division	39	0	1	0	40	0
	1959–60	Third Division	5	0	0	0	5	0
	Total		109	0	7	0	116	0
Career Total			262	2	25	2	287	4

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Football League First Division champions: 1953–54

References

1. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.