Arthur Jepson
Encyclopedia
Arthur Jepson was an English first-class cricket
er who played for Nottinghamshire
before becoming an umpire. In addition to cricket he was also an accomplished football goalkeeper who played over 100 games in the Football League
before turning his hand to management.
twice the following year.
In a match against Leicestershire
in 1958, his penultimate season, he took a career best 8 for 45 to dismiss Leicestershire in their second innings for 128. He brought up his 1000th first-class wicket when he had first innings century maker and captain Willie Watson
caught by Norman Hill.
He batted mostly in the lower order and made a solitary century in his first-class career, an innings of 130 against Worcestershire
at Trent Bridge when he shared in a sixth wicket partnership of 270 with opener Reg Simpson
.
After retiring as a cricketer, Jepson turned to umpiring and officiated in county matches up until 1985. During the late 1960s he umpired four Test
matches, the first of which was between England and the West Indies at Nottingham, where Basil Butcher
scored a double hundred. He also umpired in five One Day Internationals, including three at the 1975 Cricket World Cup
.
he played for Mansfield Town
and then Grantham Town
. In June 1938 he joined Port Vale
and made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at Clapton Orient on 8 September. He proved to be a more competent keeper than George Heppell
and was an ever-present during the rest of the 1938–39 season
. Also a regular during the 1939–40 campaign, during the war
he guested for Nottingham Forest
, Watford
, Notts County
and Swansea Town
. After his demobbing
from the forces
in October 1945 he returned to Burslem
, regaining his place in the side.
After suffering a serious spinal
injury in February 1946 he missed the rest of the season. He also missed the start of the 1946–47 season
, this time due to his cricketing commitments. In September 1946, having played 92 games for the Vale over all competitions, he was sold to local rivals
Stoke City
for a £3,750 fee. Staying for two seasons at the Victoria Ground
he moved on to Lincoln City
in 1948, where he kept goal in 58 league games. Leaving Lincoln in 1950 he later played for Northwich Victoria
and Gloucester City
before becoming player-manager of Hinckley United
.
After retiring as a player, he later managed Hinckley Athletic
and scouted
for Coventry City
and Middlesbrough
.
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
er who played for Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
before becoming an umpire. In addition to cricket he was also an accomplished football goalkeeper who played over 100 games in the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
before turning his hand to management.
Cricket career
Jepson, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, made his county debut as a 23 year old in 1938. He had his best summer in 1947 when he took 115 wickets at 27.78, the only occasion when he took more than 100 wickets in a season. On the back of his prolific summer he represented the Marylebone Cricket ClubMarylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
twice the following year.
In a match against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
in 1958, his penultimate season, he took a career best 8 for 45 to dismiss Leicestershire in their second innings for 128. He brought up his 1000th first-class wicket when he had first innings century maker and captain Willie Watson
Willie Watson (England cricketer)
William "Willie" Watson, was an English cricketer, who played for Yorkshire, Leicestershire and England. He was a double international, as Watson was also a footballer who played for England's national team.-Cricket career:...
caught by Norman Hill.
He batted mostly in the lower order and made a solitary century in his first-class career, an innings of 130 against Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
at Trent Bridge when he shared in a sixth wicket partnership of 270 with opener Reg Simpson
Reg Simpson
Reginald Thomas Simpson is an English former cricketer, who played in twentry seven Tests from 1948 to 1955.-Life and career:...
.
After retiring as a cricketer, Jepson turned to umpiring and officiated in county matches up until 1985. During the late 1960s he umpired four Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
matches, the first of which was between England and the West Indies at Nottingham, where Basil Butcher
Basil Butcher
Basil Fitzherbert Butcher is a former West Indian cricketer who played in 44 Tests from 1958 to 1969. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1970....
scored a double hundred. He also umpired in five One Day Internationals, including three at the 1975 Cricket World Cup
1975 Cricket World Cup
-Group B:-Knockout stage:-Semifinals:In the best World Cup performance to date by a bowler, Gary Gilmour took six wickets as England were bowled all out for 93 , after falling to 37/7...
.
Football career
In football Jepson was a goalkeeper, after leaving Newark TownNewark Town F.C.
Newark Town Football Club is a football club that plays its home games at the Station Road ground in the village of Collingham, near Newark-on-Trent, England....
he played for Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
and then Grantham Town
Grantham Town F.C.
Grantham Town F.C. is a football club, based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One South. They are nicknamed The Gingerbreads and they play their home matches at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium . They were established in August 1874...
. In June 1938 he joined Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
and made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at Clapton Orient on 8 September. He proved to be a more competent keeper than George Heppell
George Heppell
George Heppell was an English football goalkeeper who made over 200 appearances for Port Vale.-Playing career:...
and was an ever-present during the rest of the 1938–39 season
1938–39 Port Vale F.C. season
The 1938–39 season was Port Vale's thirty-third season of football in the Football League, and their first ever season in the Third Division South, having switched from the Third Division North in summer 1938. It was the club's last full season of football before the breakout of war in Europe...
. Also a regular during the 1939–40 campaign, during the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he guested for Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
, Watford
Watford F.C.
Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...
, Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
and Swansea Town
Swansea City A.F.C.
Swansea City Association Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. One of the most successful clubs in Welsh football, it has won 10 Welsh Cups and led the English Football League First Division in December 1981, before finishing the season in 6th position...
. After his demobbing
Demobilization
Demobilization is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and military force will not be necessary...
from the forces
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
in October 1945 he returned to Burslem
Burslem
The town of Burslem, known as the Mother Town, is one of the six towns that amalgamated to form the current city of Stoke-on-Trent, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, in the Midlands of England.-Topography:...
, regaining his place in the side.
After suffering a serious spinal
Vertebral column
In human anatomy, the vertebral column is a column usually consisting of 24 articulating vertebrae, and 9 fused vertebrae in the sacrum and the coccyx. It is situated in the dorsal aspect of the torso, separated by intervertebral discs...
injury in February 1946 he missed the rest of the season. He also missed the start of the 1946–47 season
1946–47 Port Vale F.C. season
The 1946–47 season was Port Vale's thirty-fifth season of football in the Football League, and their second full season in the Third Division South. It was their first full season following the outbreak of war in Europe, they thus continued where they left off in 1938–39, albeit after seven seasons...
, this time due to his cricketing commitments. In September 1946, having played 92 games for the Vale over all competitions, he was sold to local rivals
Potteries derby
The Potteries derby is the football local derby in Stoke-on-Trent between Port Vale and Stoke City. The fans of each club both consider the other to be their main rivals; this has led to a heated atmosphere at these matches, especially with the rise of football hooliganism and the 'Naughty Forty'...
Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
for a £3,750 fee. Staying for two seasons at the Victoria Ground
Victoria Ground
Victoria Ground may refer to:*Victoria Ground, the former name of Hartlepool United’s ground Victoria Park.*Victoria Ground, Stoke City’s ground from 1878 to 1997.*Victoria Ground, current home of Bromsgrove Rovers...
he moved on to Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
in 1948, where he kept goal in 58 league games. Leaving Lincoln in 1950 he later played for Northwich Victoria
Northwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...
and Gloucester City
Gloucester City A.F.C.
Gloucester City Association Football Club is an English semi-professional association football club currently based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in South West England, via groundshare agreement....
before becoming player-manager of Hinckley United
Hinckley United F.C.
Hinckley United Football Club are an English football club, from Hinckley, Leicestershire currently playing in the Conference North. Formed only in 1997, the club has risen from the Southern League Midland/West Division to the Conference North in those 14 years...
.
After retiring as a player, he later managed Hinckley Athletic
Hinckley United F.C.
Hinckley United Football Club are an English football club, from Hinckley, Leicestershire currently playing in the Conference North. Formed only in 1997, the club has risen from the Southern League Midland/West Division to the Conference North in those 14 years...
and scouted
Scout (sport)
In professional sports, scouts are trained talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout's organization...
for Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
and Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
.