powell_john
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John Powell - Manchester United full-back - Player profile & stats |
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| Name: John "Jack" Powell |
Nationality: Wales |
| Position: full-back |
Signing Information: Transferred from: Bolton Wanderers, 03/1886, £ |
| Birthdate: 25-03-1860 |
Years at Club: 1886-1890 |
| Age: (165) |
Debut: 30/10/1886 v Fleetwood Rangers (A) 2-2 (FA Cup 1st Round) |
| Birthplace: Ffrwd, Nr Wrexham, Wales |
Previous clubs: Druids, Bolton Wanderers |
| Height: 6' 2" (1.88m) |
Farewell to Manchester United: Transferred to ?, 12/1890, £ |
| Weight: 14st (88.9kg) |
Passed Away: 16/03/1947 |
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The story goes that Jack Powell turned up to watch a match at Ruabon one day having never played the game before and, he was so impressed by what he saw, he decided to take up football right then and there. It was an inspired decision - he would go on to become one of the greatest defenders in the early history of Welsh football, winning 15 caps for the Principality from March 1878 to March 1888 at a time when they played two or three internationals per year.
Powell duly became the captain of Druids - Wales' elite team of the time - and he helped them win the Welsh Cup in three consecutive years (from 1880 to 1882) and finish runners-up twice. A mountain of a man, the full-back was 6 feet tall in shorter times and weighed a colossal 14 stone. His idea of defending was to charge opposition strikers with full force, the location of the ball rather irrelevant. One time Jack simply fell on top of a Sheffield Wednesday forward and knocked him unconscious. It is said that Powell could head the ball farther than many players could kick it and, just how far he himself could kick it is best illustrated by the time at Turf Moor when, on three separate occasions, he took a goal-kick and sent the ball across the pitch and over the opposition goal!
With such a pedigree, Jack soon became the earliest known Welshman to turn professional with a club in England, joining Bolton Wanderers for wages of £2 10s a week. Being a first rate engineer, he was also handed a job at Galloway's Brass Works. He played for Bolton from October 1883 till January 1886 and would have stayed longer but for an acrimonious FA Cup tie in December 1885. Bolton lost to Preston but protested that two of their players were ineligible. Preston in turn accused Powell of the same and, following an investigation, both clubs were ejected from the competition and he was suspended for a month. Apparently, Jack had snuck back to live in Ruabon after taking a job there. Upset because he had lied to them, the Wanderers promptly terminated his contract.
This lie, however, was to breathe life into Newton Heath, for it was they who pounced to sign Jack in March 1886 and offer him a job as a fitter at the L&YR. It was a masterstroke on two fronts. Firstly, his solid displays soon made Heath's defence "about equal to any in the country"; and, secondly, his name attracted other Welsh stars to North Road to make Heath "the best team in Cottonopolis". The fans certainly showed their appreciation as, within the first year of his arrival, lithographed portraits of Jack, bearing the injunction "Play Up, Newton", were printed and taken to games by the spectators.
Appearing in either full-back slot (and sometimes as goalie), Jack captained the Heathens as they won three successive Manchester Cups (1888 to 1890) and the Football Combination (1888-89), and as they became founder members of the Football Alliance in 1889-90.
He was also skipper when the club contested their first ever FA Cup tie in October 1886... but perhaps he should not have. The same residential qualifications of his Bolton days came into question before the meeting with Fleetwood Rangers, forcing Heath to scratch before a ball had been kicked and participate in a friendly match instead. The history books erroneously state that Heath played an official cup tie but forfeited for refusing to stay on for extra-time after a 2-2 draw.
Manchester United's very first professional (along with Tom Hay) played his last match for the club in December 1890, by which time "he was very slow, having long since seen his best day". Powell worked for the railway for a while then ran a pub in Manchester before doing likewise back home in Wrexham. When he celebrated his 80th birthday in March 1939, he was reputed to be the oldest living Welsh international, eventually passing away after World War Two.
Biography kindly provided by Charbel Boujaoude. |
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League Cup |
FA Cup |
Charity Shield |
European Cup |
Europa League |
Super Cup |
Cup Winners Cup |
Inter-Continental Cup |
World Clubs Cup |
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Season
Goals |
Season
Apps |
| 1 |
1886-1887 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 2 |
1889-1890 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 3 |
1890-1891 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| TOTALS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
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