The Leeds Thread

[WALMOT]

Tom Jennings: The Raith Rovers hero with a voice for opera who became a record-breaker in English football

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He was the shipwrecked Raith Rovers football hero who was “probably the best Scottish striker never to play for his country”.

Tom Jennings made 196 appearances and scored 127 goals at Stark’s Park before going on to break scoring records in England including a straight hat-trick of hat-tricks in the English First Division with Leeds United.

White Hart Lane

Jennings was Leeds’ first goal machine and the pre-war phenomenon is still the club’s fourth highest goalscorer of all time, behind Elland Road legends Peter Lorimer, John Charles and Allan Clarke.

Tom Jennings, a Leeds United player that deserves greater recognition. Better goals to game ratio than Charles, Lorimer and Clarke. 117 goals in 174 appearances. A hat-trick in three successive matches, 35 goals in one season. 3rd highest ever league goalscorer for #lufc pic.twitter.com/SmGjH7Dcg3

— clive howard miers (@clivemiers) April 27, 2020

He might have scored even more if he had not suffered with attacks of blood poisoning.

Jennings was born in 1902 in Strathaven and made his name with Cadzow St Annes, a junior football team from Hamilton in Lanarkshire.

His progress was not unnoticed and in 1919 he was invited down to London for a trial with Tottenham Hotspur but nothing materialised and he signed for Raith Rovers in January 1921.

He made his Raith Rovers debut in the Jock Rattray benefit match on the day he signed and his performance was good enough to retain his place when four days later they played Aberdeen in a league game.

Raith won the match 1-0 with Jennings scoring in front of a crowd of 8,500 and he went on to become a first-team regular.

In all, he started 23 games from January 1921 and scored nine goals before he made 44 appearances the following season that would turn out to be the team’s greatest-ever final league position when they finished third behind Celtic and Rangers.

Jennings scored 25 in all games including the only goal of the game against Rangers at Ibrox and his first ever senior hat-trick which was away from home against Clydebank in a 5-0 win.

As one of the leading teams in Scotland, Rovers were invited to tour Denmark where they played three matches in Copenhagen which was the start of the team going on foreign tours.

Shipwrecked in Spain

In season 1922-23, Jennings played 42 games and scored 18 goals and Raith finished the season in ninth place before the team famously became shipwrecked on Scottish football’s most bizarre pre-season tour.

They took up the offer to play a handful of friendly matches on the Canary Islands but problems arose in the Bay of Biscay on the Sunday morning during a violent storm when the captain of the passenger ship struck rocks off the Spanish coast.

Many passengers were still in bed when the command was made to don lifebelts and abandon ship and the team spent three days of “trials and difficulties” before they finally reached the Canary Islands where they played in the middle of wire-clad bullrings.

Jennings was the top scorer during the tour and was also the stand-out performer in the hotel bar in Las Palmas during the tour when his team-mates suggested he was good enough to join the Carl Rosa Opera Company.

Club captain Bill Inglis sent a telegram home to The Courier from the Hotel Metropole following the performance by Jennings and chairman Mr Adamson.

“They have a casino here but it was closed down a fortnight before we arrived,” he said.

“I understand that someone had gambled away a fortune that didn’t belong to him and the new governor of the island had it closed down, at least for the time being.

“Two days ago we had a smoking concert organised by a native of Edinburgh, Mr Kelly by name, who officiated at the piano.

“Our chairman, Mr Adamson, sang ‘My Old Shako’ and ‘Tommy Lad’.

“The big successes of the evening were our hidden talent, Tom Jennings and Mr Stewart, who is travelling with us on a holiday.

“Tommy gave us ‘The Rosary’ and some of the boys suggested that he should be with Carl Rosa.”

Raith Rovers club historian John Greer said it was “incredible” that Jennings never received international recognition despite his goal-getting exploits.

He said: “He then continued his scoring run going into the 1923-24 Scottish League Division One championship and on October 6 1923, he scored four goals in a 6-1 win at Stark’s Park against Third Lanark in front of a crowd of 7,000.

“At the end of the season, it was reported that Millwall made an offer of £50,000 for the whole of the Raith Rovers’ forward line of Bell, Miller, Jennings, James and Archibald.

“In Tom Jennings’ last season with Raith Rovers he played 23 games and scored 23 goals, scoring two further hat-tricks.

“Tom had seen Rovers’ players David Morris and Bill Collier both capped by Scotland and other team-mates transferred to clubs in England.

“When that season, Sheffield Wednesday played Leicester City both team captains were former Raith players, Bill Inglis and John Duncan.

Reluctantly sold

“On the 20th of March 1925, Tom Jennings was reluctantly sold to Leeds United for £3,000 which was quite a return for the £10 that Raith Rovers had paid to his junior club for his services four years earlier.”

Here's my offering for @RuaridhKilgour #RetroChallenge @RaithRovers 54 shirts with some more since pic.twitter.com/fVxZZQ7vpi

— John Greer (@johnhngreer) April 4, 2020

“LEEDS UNITED SECURE A CRACK CENTRE – ONE OF THE BEST IN THE SCOTTISH LEAGUE”, was how the Yorkshire Evening Post reported the signing of Jennings on the back page.

A correspondent in Glasgow sent a telegram to the newspaper in which he claimed Jennings was regarded as one of the cleverest centre-forwards in Scotland and his wonderful knowledge of the game and everything he did made him a master craftsman.

Jennings was the first player to sign for Leeds directly from Scotland and scored his first goal against Liverpool at Elland Road.

By the end of a campaign, in which Leeds largely struggled, Jennings had scored three goals in 10 games whilst his partner Russell Wainscoat got four in nine.

The following season he scored 26 goals in England’s top flight including his first hat-trick in United colours against Arsenal in February 1926.

Leeds escaped relegation by a single point despite his goals.

Jennings continued to score goals in a struggling team and they were finally relegated in the 1926-27 season.

Jennings appeared on the matchday programme when Leeds celebrated turning 100.

He scored 35 times including 22 goals in just 14 games between September 4 and November 20 which included a hat-trick against Arsenal at Elland Road.

A week later he went one better by scoring four at Anfield in a win over Liverpool.

Another four-goal haul followed when Blackburn Rovers were thrashed at Elland Road, making it three hat-tricks in three games.

This was the first time in the history of top flight football, in England, that this magnificent feat had been achieved.

Jennings remained at the club and fired Leeds back into the top flight at the first attempt.

He scored 21 times over a season in which he suffered from blood poisoning which restricted him to just 51 games over the next three seasons.

Curtain call

His final Leeds United goal came in his 170th appearance, at home to Sheffield Wednesday, which was the 117th time that he had put the ball in the net in a Leeds shirt.

Jennings left Elland Road in June 1931 to join Chester City where he continued to break scoring records.

He officially scored Chester’s first ever Football League goal in a 1–1 draw with Wrexham in September 1931.

Also on this day in 1932, Tom Jennings, the Chester centre-forward, scored FIVE goals against the sorry Saddlers in our Third Division North clash. We lost 5-1 but soon gained our revenge as we trounced Chester 5-0 the following year.

Anyone attending games in 1932??

— Saddlers Stats (@saddlersstats) January 30, 2019

Although Chester had beaten Wigan Borough 4-0 four days earlier, the result was deleted after Wigan resigned from the Football League in October 1931.

Later in the season he scored Chester’s first Football League hat-trick, when he scored all the club’s goals in a 5–1 win over Walsall in January 1932.

He later managed Bangor City, who he joined in 1933, and Third Lanark from 1934 until he resigned in 1938.

Jennings fought in the Second World War and his return to Europe – well over a decade after he was shipwrecked in Spain – appears to have been just as dramatic.

There were reports at the time from a newspaper in Chester which suggested he spent a few years in a German prisoner of war camp after being captured by the Nazis.

Love affair

Marc Bracha who runs the Leeds United nostalgia site Sheridan Dictates said: “In today’s football, there would be no way Leeds would have been able to keep hold of their deadly marksman following relegation but the love affair was not about to end.

“Jennings remained at the club and fired Leeds back into the top flight at the first attempt.

“Incredibly, the master craftsman never received international recognition during his career but despite that, the man signed from Raith Rovers was box-office.

“His exploits of 117 goals in 174 games makes him the fourth highest Leeds goal scorer of all time, behind Peter Lorimer, John Charles and Allan Clarke.”

Jennings time at Leeds was celebrated when his picture was on the front of the match programme to celebrate the club’s centenary.

The Elland Road club described Jennings as “probably the best Scottish striker never to play for his country”.

Jennings was the great-uncle of Sheila Stewart and she said the family are hugely proud of his achievements in football.

 

“Tom was one of nine children and he was from a very musical family,” said Sheila, who is originally from Nairn, but now lives in Glasgow.

“I first met him in April 1967 when Aberdeen got to the Scottish Cup Final.

“I supported Aberdeen and I was going through to Hampden and I remember my mum told me to get in touch with my Uncle Tommy.

“He was working at the time as a sportswriter with the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail alongside Jerry Dawson who was the former Rangers goalkeeper.

“I went to the Daily Record office and I discovered he was a classic, nice, warm Glasgow man and we had a really good chat.

“He gave me tickets for the press box for the cup final and did the same when Aberdeen reached the final again a few years later.

“My family never really talked about Tom’s football achievements and it was only 10 years ago that I discovered what a career he enjoyed in the game.”

Huge source of pride

She said the family is hugely proud of his legacy and those stories have now been passed down through the generations to keep his memory alive.

“He gave so much pleasure to the fans of Raith and Leeds and that’s a source of huge pride,” she said.

“Just as important is what kind of man he was.

“We’ll never forget him.”

Jennings, who was married to Jean and stepfather to Pam, died in Johnstone in July 1973 at the age of 71.

He still had a broad Scottish accent despite all his years in England.

Edited June 17, 2020 by WALMOT

[WALMOT]

Rest in peace.

Leeds United are deeply saddened to learn club legend Jack Charlton passed away last night at the age of 85 following a long-term illness.

Charlton made a club record 773 appearances for Leeds United over a 23-year period as a player, becoming one of the all-time great central defenders in the game.

He joined the club at the age of 15 in 1950 as part of the ground staff, before signing professional terms and was handed a debut against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday 25th April 1953 in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road.

‘Big Jack’ was part of the club’s most successful era to date, first helping win promotion from the Second Division twice, as runners-up in 1955/56 and champions in 1963/64.

Following this, he was part of the side which won the League Cup in 1968, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1968 and 1971, the First Division in 1968/69, the Charity Shield in 1969 and the FA Cup in 1972.

He won his first England cap against Scotland on 10^th April 1965 and was part of Sir Alf Ramsay’s England World Cup squad in 1966.

With the Three Lions, Charlton played in every match during the 1966 tournament which England went on to win, defeating West Germany 4-2 in the final at Wembley- England’s only World Cup success to date.

A year later in 1967, Charlton was named as the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.

Charlton retired from playing at the end of the 1972/73 season, with his final game coming against Southampton on 28^th April 1973.

Along with his record total of 773 appearances, Charlton scored 96 times for Leeds, making him the club’s ninth highest scorer in our history.

He won a total of 35 caps for England, scoring six goals for his country and was appointed an OBE in 1974.

Following his playing career, Charlton went into management, with spells in charge of Middlesbrough, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle United and the Republic of Ireland.

Charlton’s contribution to the game and Leeds United will never be forgotten.

He will remain in football folklore forever and his records at Leeds United are unlikely ever to be surpassed.

Naturally, our thoughts are with Jack’s family and friends at this difficult time.

 

A statement from the Charlton family said:

Jack died peacefully on Friday 10 July at the age of 85.

He was at home in Northumberland, with his family by his side.

As well as a friend to many, he was a much-adored husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

We cannot express how proud we are of the extraordinary life he led and the pleasure he brought to so many people in different countries and from all walks of life.

He was a thoroughly honest, kind, funny and genuine man who always had time for people.

His loss will leave a huge hole in all our lives but we are thankful for a lifetime of happy memories.

 

Rest in peace

Jack Charlton

8^th May 1935 - 10^th July 2020

Another Legend gone R I P Jack.

[Clockwork]

Really sad news, Big Jack, Norman Hunter & Trevor Cherry all passing away within a few months of each other.[emoji17]

[Bedford White]

RIP to Norm, Trevor and Jack. See the Prem shit next season. Shithousing since 1919

[Clockwork]

Congrats Leeds United, great to see em back in the top flight![emoji41][emoji122][emoji122]

[Marshmallo]

[Falcor Roar]

Good to see them back. Get pish like Bournemouth doon. 

[Munoz]

Well done Dirty Leeds.

[Ludo*1]

Really interested to see what Bielsa will do with this Leeds team. History suggests he's gonna stick by the squad but it's clear that they'll be in trouble if he does. If he had the opportunity (And indeed, takes the opportunity) to splash some cash there's no reason why he can't work more wonders with that club.

He's a true mad genius - Hope he can carry it on!

[Bedford White]

WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE (@NothingButLUFC) Tweeted: The Lads the moment we sealed Promotion. #LUFC https://t.co/FFCft899Or https://twitter.com/NothingButLUFC/status/1284216745834815488?s=20

[sergie's no1 fan]

Really interested to see what Bielsa will do with this Leeds team. History suggests he's gonna stick by the squad but it's clear that they'll be in trouble if he does. If he had the opportunity (And indeed, takes the opportunity) to splash some cash there's no reason why he can't work more wonders with that club.
He's a true mad genius - Hope he can carry it on!

Not sure Ludo, they absolutely pummeled Arsenal in the FA cup game, can't remember if it was Arsenal's first team, not entirely sure but they had some big hitters playing.

If they come up with the same pressing, high intensity Bielsa ball and add 3 maybe 4 proper high quality players in key positions they will be a joy to watch.

Definitely need a number 9, centre half, and a goalkeeper.

[Ludo*1]

11 minutes ago, sergie's no1 fan said:

Not sure Ludo, they absolutely pummeled Arsenal in the FA cup game, can't remember if it was Arsenal's first team, not entirely sure but they had some big hitters playing.

If they come up with the same pressing, high intensity Bielsa ball and add 3 maybe 4 proper high quality players in key positions they will be a joy to watch.

Definitely need a number 9, centre half, and a goalkeeper.

Blackpool - The season they were up, were a joy to watch. I know there's some pish in the EPL despite the hype, but I dunno if the quality Leeds will have will sustain a season in the top flight.

Put any other manager in the world and say a squad of Barry Douglas, Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas & Patrick Bamford as some of your main players and you wouldn't expect to stay up. Combine that with the fact that Leeds are a huge club and 16 year or not outwith the top flight, I don't think the fan base will accept a WBA style yo-yo season where they're likely to stink out the top flight.

Bielsa is the difference maker.

Wish he was given a chance at a truly big club tbh!

[Binos]

16 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said:

Blackpool - The season they were up, were a joy to watch. I know there's some pish in the EPL despite the hype, but I dunno if the quality Leeds will have will sustain a season in the top flight.

Put any other manager in the world and say a squad of Barry Douglas, Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas & Patrick Bamford as some of your main players and you wouldn't expect to stay up. Combine that with the fact that Leeds are a huge club and 16 year or not outwith the top flight, I don't think the fan base will accept a WBA style yo-yo season where they're likely to stink out the top flight.

Bielsa is the difference maker.

Wish he was given a chance at a truly big club tbh!

It's amazing bielsa lasted more than a season

He left every other club within that since Bilbao, some a matter of weeks

[Binos]

20 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said:

Blackpool - The season they were up, were a joy to watch. I know there's some pish in the EPL despite the hype, but I dunno if the quality Leeds will have will sustain a season in the top flight.

Put any other manager in the world and say a squad of Barry Douglas, Liam Cooper, Stuart Dallas & Patrick Bamford as some of your main players and you wouldn't expect to stay up. Combine that with the fact that Leeds are a huge club and 16 year or not outwith the top flight, I don't think the fan base will accept a WBA style yo-yo season where they're likely to stink out the top flight.

Bielsa is the difference maker.

Wish he was given a chance at a truly big club tbh!

In fact a third season will be new territory for him

1990–1992	Newell's Old Boys
1993–1995	Atlas
1995–1996	América
1997–1998	Vélez Sarsfield
1998	Espanyol
1998–2004	Argentina
2007–2011	Chile
2011–2013	Athletic Bilbao
2014–2015	Marseille
2016	Lazio
2017	Lille
2018–	Leeds United

[Boostin' Kev]

Used to go to ER regularly 10 years ago, will be some weekend down there.  Just got back in touch with boys I went to games with about getting down next season.

[Marshmallo]

Barry Douglas is the third choice left back so wouldn't say he is a "main player".

White going back to Brighton will be a massive loss. He'll stroll it in the PL and can't see Brighton letting him go unless they get a monster offer.

I'm sure Leeds are contractually obliged to sign Augustin for 20m which isn't great as another striker is required, even if it's just to bring off the bench.

I'd imagine Bielsa will keep the majority of the team but at a bare minimum they need a keeper (potentially Meslier on a permanent basis), centre back to replace White, a left back and a striker. I'd replace Cooper as well. Pablo being another year older is a concern and I'm not daft on Costa. I'd expect Harrison to sign permanently but if not there's potentially a massive gap in creativity in the midfield.

[List_of_Jericho]

 

15 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Barry Douglas is the third choice left back so wouldn't say he is a "main player".

White going back to Brighton will be a massive loss. He'll stroll it in the PL and can't see Brighton letting him go unless they get a monster offer.

I'm sure Leeds are contractually obliged to sign Augustin for 20m which isn't great as another striker is required, even if it's just to bring off the bench.

I'd imagine Bielsa will keep the majority of the team but at a bare minimum they need a keeper (potentially Meslier on a permanent basis), centre back to replace White, a left back and a striker. I'd replace Cooper as well. Pablo being another year older is a concern and I'm not daft on Costa. I'd expect Harrison to sign permanently but if not there's potentially a massive gap in creativity in the midfield.

I'm hopefull that Costa and Harrison will be seen to better effect in the Premier, their pace will be a real asset in the tough away games.

Definately need a proper striker and potentially 2 centre backs if they can't sign White permanent.

The Augustin deal seems utter madness now!

 

[RandomGuy.]

9 hours ago, Ludo*1 said:

Wish he was given a chance at a truly big club tbh!

I don't think he wanted too, tbh.

What I've read/seen about him, he's all about the project. If Leeds do cruise into the top half hes more likely to get bored and walk away at the end of the season than stay and help them try and build on that.

Leeds fans should just enjoy him while he's there, as he's not going to build a dynasty with them.

[Marshmallo]

3 minutes ago, List_of_Jericho said:

 

I'm hopefull that Costa and Harrison will be seen to better effect in the Premier, their pace will be a real asset in the tough away games.

Definately need a proper striker and potentially 2 centre backs if they can't sign White permanent.

The Augustin deal seems utter madness now!

 

Argument from Leeds re Augustin seems to be that it was only valid if Leeds were promoted before the end of June but I'm not sure that will hold up. In fairness to him I've not seen much of him and Bielsa was really keen to get him in the side quickly when he arrived (compared to Poveda for example).

[ftk]

If Brentford drop points today Leeds will be crowned champions.

Well done Leeds. Missed them from the premier league.