Role Football player | Name Jack Devey Years Team | |
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Full name John Henry George Devey Date of birth (1866-12-26)26 December 1866 Place of birth Newtown, Birmingham, England Date of death 11 October 1940(1940-10-11) (aged 73) Died October 11, 1940, Birmingham, United Kingdom | ||
Place of death Birmingham, England | ||
John Henry George "Jack" Devey (26 December 1866 – 11 October 1940) was a football player and a first-class cricketer.
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Football career
Devey was born in Birmingham and signed for Aston Villa in March 1891; he would go on to become one of Aston Villa's greatest captains. A skilful inside right/centre-forward and an England international with two caps, he was exceptionally clever with head and feet in front of goal and a prolific goalscorer. He was the club's leading scorer in the Championship winning Villa side of 1893–94 season with 20 goals.
For eight years, Devey captained Aston Villa during which time they won the League championship five times between 1894 and 1900 and the FA Cup twice. Including the famous 'Double' in the 1896–97 season. Devey was also captain of the title chasing 1900 Villa team who suffered a surprise defeat in the F A Cup quarter finals by Southern League Millwall Athletic
He retired in April 1902 and was an Aston Villa director for the next 32 years.
Cricket career
Jack Devey was also a Warwickshire cricketer, first appearing for the county side in 1887, though matches were only rated as first-class from 1894. He was a right-handed batsman who batted in the middle order until around 1900, but then opened the innings until his final retirement from the game in 1907. He also bowled occasional right-arm medium pace.
Family
He was one of five brothers who all played professional football, Ted and Will for Small Heath and John, Harry and Bob for Aston Villa. Another brother, Abel, was a cricketer with Staffordshire.
Statistics
League: 268 matches - 168 goals
Cup: 38 matches - 18 goals