John (Jack) Young

John (Jack) Young was born in Whitburn, Tyne and Wear in 1895. He played local football for Whitburn Villa, before joining South Shields. He also played for Southend United before his career was interrupted by the First World War.

Syd King, the manager of West Ham United signed Young for a fee of £300 in 1919. At the time Young was an outside left but King decided to convert him to left-back. Young only made one appearance in the 1919-20 season but was a regular the following season in a team that included Syd Puddefoot, George Kay, Edward Hufton, Jack Tresadern, Vic Watson, Sid Bishop and Billy Brown.

West Ham United enjoyed a good FA Cup run in the 1922-23 season beating Hull City (3-2), Brighton & Hove Albion (1-0), Plymouth Argyle (2-0), Southampton (1-0) and Derby County (5-2) to reach the final against Bolton Wanderers. The final took place at Wembley Stadium, only four days after the stadium had been completed.

The stadium had a capacity of 125,000 and so the Football Association did not consider making it an all-ticket match. After all, both teams only had an average attendance of around 20,000 for league games. However, it was rare for a club from London to make the final of the FA Cup and supporters of other clubs in the city saw it as a North v South game. It is estimated that 300,000 people attempted to get into the ground. Over a thousand people were injured getting in and out of the stadium. When the game eventually got started, Joe Smith and David Jack scored in Bolton's 2-0 victory over West Ham United.

In their next game West Ham United beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 to ensure promotion to the First Division. Vic Watson was top scorer with 22 goals and Billy Moore added 15 more. Young played in 32 league and cup games that season.

West Ham United finished in 13th place in their first season in the First Division. Young played in 35 of the 42 league games during the campaign. Injuries and ill-health restricted his appearances the following season and he played the last of his 124 league games against Leeds United on 19th September, 1925.

Young played 89 games for Queen's Park Rangers (1926-28) before finishing his career at Accrington Stanley. He ran a farm near Sunderland but also worked as a scout for Liverpool, a club managed by former team-mate, George Kay.

Jack Young died in 1952.