John Joseph “Jack” Conley (September 27, 1920 - January 1991) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 centre-forward.

Jack Conley was born in Whitstable

Whitstable

Whitstable is a seaside town in Northeast Kent, Southeast England. It is approximately north of the city of Canterbury and approximately west of the seaside town of Herne Bay. It is part of the City of Canterbury district and has a population of about 30,000.Whitstable is famous for its oysters,...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 and joined Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 as a junior, but on failing to make the grade joined Torquay United

Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

 in May 1939. The onset of war resulted in Conley's debut being delayed, it finally coming on August 31, 1946 in a 1-1 draw away to local rivals Exeter City

Exeter City F.C.

Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...

. He was dropped after his debut, replaced by Dudley Kernick, but scored twice on his return to the side, after missing just one game, in a 2-2 draw at home to 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...

.

He soon became a regular in the Torquay side and scored his first hat-trick in a 3-0 win at home to Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

 on January 18, 1947. He finished the season as Torquay's leading goalscoring, scoring 23 times in just 34 league games.

The following season was a struggle for Torquay, the side finishing in 18th place (out of 22) in Third Division South

Football League Third Division South

The Football League Third Division South was a level of English professional football which ran in parallel to Third Division North from 1921 to 1958....

, but Conley continued to flourish, scoring 11 times in 31 league games and one goal in five FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 games as Torquay reached the Third Round before losing to Stockport County

Stockport County F.C.

Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...

. He also scored the second hat-trick of his career, scoring three times as Torquay won 4-1 at home to Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

 on October 18, 1947. That season, all but eleven of Torquay's 73 league goals were scored by just four players, Ron Shaw

Ron Shaw

Ron Shaw was an English professional footballer who spent his entire professional career with Torquay United, making 384 appearances in the Football League.-References:...

 (17), Charlie Hill

Charlie Hill

Charlie Hill is an Oneida-Mohawk-Cree stand-up comedian and actor. He was also a writer on Roseanne.Although he is known for groundbreaking jokes that reverse the roles of Native American and white culture , his comedy transcends issues of color, and addresses foremost the matters of human...

 (12) and Dennis Lewis

Dennis Lewis (footballer)

Dennis Lewis is a Welsh former footballer who played for Torquay United for twelve years, racking up 442 appearances in the Football League...

 (10) the others.

The 1948-49 season was a much better one for Torquay. They finished 9th in the league and Conley top-scored with 19 goals in 39 games. His haul included three hat-tricks, all at Plainmoor

Plainmoor

Plainmoor is a suburb of Torquay, Devon, but is best known as the name of the stadium in which Torquay United Football Club currently play.-History:...

, against Walsall

Walsall F.C.

Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

, Reading

Reading F.C.

Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

 and Newport County.

Conley was Torquay's leading goalscorer for a third time in the 1949-50 season, hitting 14 goals in 37 league games as Torquay finished in 5th place. The following season saw Conley begin the season with a new strike partner, Sammy Collins

Sammy Collins

Ronald Dudley 'Sammy' Collins was an English professional footballer. He holds the record for most league goals scored by a Torquay United player....

, who would go to be Torquay's highest goalscorer of all time. Conley played just 15 times, scoring five goals, scoring in his final game, a 4-1 win at home to Bristol City

Bristol City F.C.

Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

 on November 18, 1950, before a serious leg injury led to his retirement from the professional game.

He later played for his hometown side Whistable.

He joined Swindon Town

Swindon Town F.C.

Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...

 as Chief Scout and was assistant manager of the Swindon side, working under Danny Williams, when they reached the 1969 League Cup

Football League Cup

The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 final.

In 1984, he and Williams were awarded a testimonial by Swindon, a Swindon guest team including John Hollins

John Hollins

John William Hollins MBE is a retired English footballer and manager. He was initially a midfielder who, later in his career, became an effective centre back.Hollins' son, Chris Hollins is the main sport presenter on BBC Breakfast....

, Alan Hudson

Alan Hudson

Alan Anthony Hudson is a former English footballer.-Biography:Born and brought up near the King's Road, Hudson was rejected by boyhood club Fulham as a schoolboy before signing for Chelsea Juniors...

, future Swindon manager Lou Macari

Lou Macari

Luigi "Lou" Macari is a Scottish former footballer and football manager of Italian descent.-Playing career:...

 and Chris Kamara

Chris Kamara

Chris Kamara is a retired English footballer. He ended his playing career in 1995 and last managed a club in 1998. He is now a presenter and football analyst on Sky Sports.-Playing career:...

 facing Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 on September 11, 1984.