John Goodall

John Goodall
John Goodall (1889)
Personnel
birthday	June 19, 1863
place of birth	Westminster ,  England
date of death	May 20, 1942
Place of death	Watford ,  England
position	striker
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
	Kilmarnock Burns
	Kilmarnock Athletic
	Great Lever
1885-1889	Preston North End	21 (20)
1889-1899	Derby County	211 (76)
1899-1900	New Brighton Tower	6 0(2)
1901-1903	FC Glossop	35 0(8)
1903-1909	Watford FC	62 (14)
1910-1912	RC Roubaix
1912-1913	AFC Mardy
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1888-1898	England	14 (12)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1903-1910	Watford FC
1910-1912	RC Roubaix
1912-1913	AFC Mardy
1 Only league games are given.

John Goodall (born June 19, 1863 in Westminster , † May 20, 1942 in Watford ) was a famous English football player from the early years of the Football League and best known as a striker of the first championship team Preston North End and the English national team.

Athletic career

Basics about the person and first football stations

Goodall was born to Scottish parents in London  - more precisely: Westminster - but from then on he was to compete as an English football player for the national team there. He was one of the first people from southern England to pave his way to professional football and in his own way helped establish the game in the south when he became the first coach in Watford FC history in 1903 . In addition to football, he also built a reputation in curling and also played cricket for the Derbyshire County Cricket Club . He also had an extraordinary hobby by keeping domesticated foxes.

John Goodall was confronted with the Scottish passing game early in his life after his parents moved with him to Kilmarnock . There he played for Kilmarnock Burns and Kilmarnock Athletic before he later worked in Bolton for a club called Great Lever . Major William Sudell, the chairman and a kind of early football coach of Preston North End, who was also one of the main champions for professional football, signed Goodall and built one of the best football teams in the country around a group of Scottish players (Sudell later gave the Football League its name and became the association's first treasurer).

Preston North End

Goodall signed a professional contract with Preston North End before the 1885/86 season and should achieve 50 goals in a total of 56 games for this club. He made his first division debut on September 8, 1888 in a 5-2 home win against Burnley FC. His first goal in the top division he succeeded in his second game on September 15, 1888 in a 4-0 away win at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He played the FA Cup final in 1888 and lost there with his team against West Bromwich Albion 2-1. However, a great success followed immediately afterwards when Preston North End won the English championship with Goodall in the first season of the Football League 1888/89 and remained undefeated during the entire round. In addition, there was the win of the FA Cup, where they even remained without conceding a goal, which earned the club the nickname "The Invincibles" (German: "The Invincibles"). Goodall became the first top scorer in the Football League with his 20 goals in 21 championship games in the 1888/89 season and then also made his international debut against Wales in 1888 . Overall, Goodall played six times against Wales, seven times against Scotland and one more game against the then IFA selection from Ireland , scoring twelve goals. He played his last game in 1898 and was in almost every possible attacking position at the time as a center forward or as a left or right winger . An opposing player described Goodall's talent for movement with the words: "His feet seemed to move like in mercury". He played his last first division game for Preston on February 9, 1889, a 2-0 win at Aston Villa.

Derby County

Somewhat surprisingly, at the height of his fame, Goodall moved straight to Derby County in 1889 after winning the double . His Irish- born brother Archie  - a later Irish international - was to play in the central half position in defensive midfield (as "center-half") with him in the team until the end of the 19th century. The two thus represent the first pair of brothers in the history of modern football to compete for various national selections. He made his first division debut for Derby on September 7, 1889 in a 1-1 draw against FC Stoke, an away game.

John Goodall later became a mentor of Steve Bloomer , who would become the first "superstar" of English football and from the 1892/93 season consistently was the top scorer of his generation. Bloomer led the performance development back in his early years largely from the influence of his supporter, but this did not ensure that this sporting connection would have made Derby County a title holder. The best results during this time were third place in the championship in two cases, the runner-up in 1895 and a final participation in the FA Cup in 1898, as well as two entries into the semi-finals of the cup competition. He completed his last first division game on April 8, 1899 in a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool.

Goodall did not take part in the last possibility of a cup final in 1899, since he was no longer part of the regular formation at that time. In October 1899 he joined the New Brighton Tower club  - located in the Wirral district - which wanted to arm itself through the massive purchase of former national players for the promotion ranks of the Second Division ; however, this engagement quickly ended for Goodall. His last years as a pure player ended largely outside the public eye at the second division club Glossop in Derbyshire.

In total, he made 233 first division appearances and scored 96 goals.

Watford FC

He married in Glossop Sarah Rawcliffe from Lancashire and moved towards the end of his playing career with her in 1903 to Hertfordshire , where he took on the role of a player-coach in the Southern League at Watford FC . He exercised this function after the end of his playing career until 1910 and then became groundskeeper .

A reporter for the British newspaper " Observer " visited Goodall in May 1903 as he was preparing for the new season and wrote among other things:

“When asked about the prospects in Watford, the new coach saw no reason why Watford should not be able to occupy a respectable place on the ladder of the Southern League due to its good central location and railway facilities. (..) When we left the Watford topic for a moment, one could hear the impact of the curling stones, the hissing of the cricket ball (..) and the swing of a bat at the royal-ancient game of "Gowf". (..) But you can't just ignore John's achievements in the game. In Preston he was a master curler, played at the British championship in Southport against the best Scottish curlers and finished second. (..) With his dedication to golf, Goodall knows everything about long tees, good approaches, bunkers and other obstacles; he understands the secret of keeping an eye on the ball and speaks that language! The pigeon shooting also caught his attention. (..) The gentler bowling game also interested him on a summer evening and he can - if necessary - drop the pins like dead. On the cricket field he played for Derby County as a wicket keeper against Yorkshire and Warwickshire. (..) With the new coach Watford has a man who can be relied on for all time and who contributes well in every position (..) ”.

Goodall had immediate success at Watford FC, won the championship in the Second Division of the Southern League in the 1903/04 season and broke some records. Overall, his team remained undefeated and recorded the highest FA Cup victory in the club's history at 6-0 on October 31, 1903 against FC Redhill in the English Cup. In addition, Bertie Banks set with 21 goals in the entire season and Harry Barton with six goals in the game against the Wycombe Wanderers on September 26, 1903 other records.

On September 14, 1907, Goodall himself was a player for the last time against Bradford Park Avenue at the age of 44 years and 87 days and lived very modestly after playing football and later became so impoverished that he and his family even had to be given food. He lived the rest of his life in solitude, drawing attention to those around him only through the habit of walking the foxes he kept in the city. Goodall died in Watford in May 1942 and was buried anonymously in Watford North Cemetery.

successes

• English master: 1889
• FA Cup Winner: 1889

literature

• Joyce, Michael: Football League Players' Records. 1888 to 1939. 4Edge, 2004, ISBN 1-899468-67-6 , pp. 102 .
• Ian Rigby and Mike Payne: Proud Preston . Carnegie Publishing, 1999, ISBN 1-85936-071-8 .
• Gerald Mortimer: Derby County A Complete Record 1884–1988 . Breedon Books, 1988, ISBN 0-907969-39-9 .

References and footnotes

1. ↑ He played twice for the Derbyshire County Cricket Club in June 1895 and July 1896, for a total of 38 points and an average of 12. ( John Goodall ( English ) Cricket Archive. Accessed January 27, 2017.)
2. ↑ Original text of the Observer report: “Asked as to the prospects in Watford, the new manager saw no reason why Watford, with its good central position and great railway facilities, should not be able to turn out a team to occupy a respectable position on the Southern League ladder ”. "The moment we got away from the subject of Watford you could hear the rumbling of curling stones, the swish of cricket balls, the rippling of waters" willow-wooed, "and the swipes of drivers in the royal and ancient game of" gowf "”. “Of Goodall's fishing one need say no more than that he is an angler”. “But John's achievements in the roaring game cannot be passed over. While at Preston he was the champion curler, and once when playing against the best of Scotia's curlers in the championship of Great Britain at Southport, he ran out second ”. “With reference to the game of golf, Goodall knows all about long drives and good approaches, bunkers, and other hazards; the secret of keeping your eye on the ball is his, and the language thereof! Pigeon shooting also claimed his attention ”. “The gentler game of bowling has attracted him of a summer's evening and he can put a bowl to lie dead on the jack when required. In the cricket field he has kept wicket for Derby County against Yorkshire and Warwickshire ”. (He played two times for Derbyshire County Cricket Club in June 1895 and July 1896, scoring 38 runs at an average of 12.) [1] “In the new manager, Watford have a man who can be relied upon at all times to give a good account of himself in any position, particularly in the van ”.

Web links & literature

• Oliver Phillips - The Golden Boys: A Study of Watford's Cult Heroes