John Lewis (footballer, born 1881)

John Richard Lewis (August 1881 – 12 September 1954) was a Welsh international footballer, who played his club football as a forward for various clubs in the south of England.

John Lewis
Personal information
Full name John Richard Lewis
Date of birth August 1881 (1881-08)
Place of birth Aberystwyth, Wales
Date of death 12 September 1954(1954-09-12) (aged 73)
Place of death Burton upon Trent, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Inside Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1899–1900 Bristol Rovers 25 (5)
1900–1901 Portsmouth 21 (7)
1901–1904 Burton United 74 (24)
1904–1906 Bristol Rovers 56 (25)
1906–1907 Brighton & Hove Albion 32 (8)
1907–1908 Southampton 24 (10)
1908–1909 Croydon Common 10 (14)
1909–1910 Burton United
National team
1906 Wales 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Lewis was born in Aberystwyth and started his career with Bristol Rovers in September 1899, before moving to the South coast to join Southern League Portsmouth in May 1900. After one season at Fratton Park, he moved to the Midlands to join Burton United playing in the Second Division of the Football League.[2]

After three seasons, he returned to the Southern League with Bristol Rovers in August 1904 where he won a cap for Wales in the match against England on 19 March 1906.[3] Shortly afterwards he moved back to the south coast with Brighton & Hove Albion, where he spent one season before arriving at Southampton, his third south coast club.

Although rather small, Lewis was a clever forward but sometimes found his size a handicap against burly opponents.[1] In his one season at The Dell, he formed a useful partnership with Fred Harrison as well as linking up well with fellow forwards, Frank Jefferis and George Smith. He made 24 Southern League appearances for The Saints and his 10 goals made him top scorer for the club in the 1907–08 league season.

Never able to settle long in one place, he spent the 1908–09 season with Croydon Common before returning to Burton United (now out of the Football League) in 1909.

References
  1. Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
  2. Dave Juson & others (2004). Saints v Pompey - A history of unrelenting rivalry. Hagiology Publishing. p. 227. ISBN 0-9534474-5-6.
  3. "Wales 0 England 1 (19 March 1906)". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.