John Pickering (December 18, 1908 in High Green

High Green

High Green is the northernmost suburb of Sheffield, England. Its about 8 miles in distance from inner Sheffield.It is found to the north of Chapeltown and is served by a number of buses; the nearest rail station is in Chapeltown 1 mile away....

, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 – 1977) 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...

 footballer

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...

 who played for Sheffield United between 1925 and 1948. He played in the position of Inside-Left

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

.

Pickering learned his football at Barnsley Grammar School and Mortomley St. Saviours from where he came directly to United at the age of 17, in 1925. He was a tall, long striding attacking player, and was instantly seen as a successor to Billy Gillespie

Billy Gillespie

Billy Gillespie was a football player for Sheffield United over a twenty year period from 1913 to 1932, scoring over 137 League and Cup goals in 492 games for the South Yorkshire side....

 at inside-forward. Jack was a part-time player, first working as a bookmaker

Bookmaker

A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...

 and then an accountant

Accountant

An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...

.

He was a clever manipulator of the ball and a master of the long cross field pass which had been a feature of Sheffield United’s play in the 1890s. An intelligent player, he generally lay far back behind, directing his fellow forwards with discriminating passes.

Pickering became a regular first team player at the end of the 1920s as Gillespie's playing career wound down. Jack's ball control was excellent as was his passing. He played a thoughtful studied game, simple in essence, but he was also a fast runner and began to score splendid goals with hard shots often from around the edge of the six yard box.

Yet, the United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

 matchday programme writer in October 1930 grumbled that Pickering did not put 'enough ginger' into his play and judged him as 'moody'.

He was chosen for the Football League side in 1932 and for the Rest against England in an international trial in March 1933. The Rest forward line played so well (winning 5-1) that they were all chosen to play Scotland at Hampden Park, Pickering received what turned out to be his only international cap for England.

Pickering scored two goals in the 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...

 5th round tie against Leeds United at Bramall Lane

Bramall Lane

-Cricket at the Lane:Bramall Lane opened as a cricket ground in 1855, having been leased by Michael Ellison from the Duke of Norfolk at an annual rent of £70. The site was then away from the town's industrial area, and relatively free from smoke. It was built to host the matches of local cricket...

 on February 15, 1936, in a match watched by a record crowd of 68,287.

He possessed a strong shot and played in 39 matches in season 1935-36

1935-36 in English football

The 1935–36 season was the 61st season of competitive football in England.-Events:Sunderland AFC won the league, and in doing so they remain the last team to win the English League while wearing striped jerseys...

, scoring 17 goals as United reached the 1936 FA Cup Final

FA Cup Final

The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. With an official attendance of 89,826 at the 2007 FA Cup Final, it is the fourth best attended domestic club championship event in the world and the second most...

.
Pickering partnered striker Bobby Barclay

Bobby Barclay

Robert "Bobby" Barclay was an English Footballer who played in the position of Inside Forward.-Football career:...

 in the final against Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 at Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

, and both impressed with their stylish distribution and approach play. But it was not to be United’s day and they lost the match 1-0.

In season 1938-39

1938-39 in English football

The 1938–39 season was the 64th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

, Pickering was partnered with Jimmy Hagan

Jimmy Hagan

James Hagan was an English football player and manager born in Washington, County Durham, England. He played between 1938 and 1958 for Sheffield United and once for England. As manager he had his greatest successes with S.L...

 in possibly one of the Blades' most exciting teams of the 1900s. When World War II

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...

 broke out, United were standing at the top of the First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 - the season was canceled after just three matches.

He played in Wartime matches for Sheffield United, and made eleven appearances in the team which won the League North

Football League North and South

The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created for the League to continue while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The Leagues started in 1941; however, the leagues only had one full season, in 1945-46...

 title in season 1945-46

1945-46 in English football

The 1945–1946 season was the 66th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:1945–1946 was the first football season since the 1939–1940 season was cut short due to World War II. The FA Cup was the main competition to be played this season along with the Football League North and Football...

. The first post-war season

1946-47 in English football

The 1946–47 season was the 67th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The 1946–47 season was the first to feature a full football programme since the 1938–39 campaign. Eighty-eight teams competed over four divisions. Liverpool went top of the First Division with a 2–1 away win over...

 saw him make just one appearance
and that was in the Championship decider against 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...

. Pickering scored United's second goal that was to take the title to Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 with United finishing sixth in Division One

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

.

In a career that spanned 23 seasons, he made his final appearance for Sheffield United against Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

 at Bramall Lane on January 1, 1948 when he was 39 years old. Overall, he made 367 (344 league

English football league system

The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...

) appearances and scored 110 goals (101 league) in all competitions,
in a career exclusively with United. He won one England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 cap

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 against Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 at Hampden Park

Hampden Park

Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...

 on April 1, 1933.

Pickering had trained as an accountant, and he cut his formal links with the soccer world taking a hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 in Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

. He died aged 68.

Sheffield United Career

Season	Division	League Apps	League Goals	FA Cup Apps	FA Cup Goals	Total Apps	Total Goals
1926–27	Division One	1	0	0	0	1	0
1927–28	Division One	2	0	0	0	2	0
1928–29	Division One	10	4	0	0	10	4
1929–30	Division One	38	14	2	0	40	14
1930–31	Division One	23	4	1	0	24	4
1931–32	Division One	34	10	2	1	36	11
1932–33	Division One	39	13	2	0	41	13
1933–34	Division One	28	12	0	0	28	12
1934–35	Division Two	32	6	2	2	34	8
1935–36	Division Two	35	14	4	3	39	17
1936–37	Division Two	39	8	3	1	42	9
1937–38	Division Two	37	11	3	1	40	12
1938–39	Division Two	24	5	4	1	28	6
1939–40	Division Two	1	0	0	0	1	0
1946–47	Division One	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total	344	101	23	9	367	110

Note: Season 1939-40 was abandoned after 3 matches due to outbreak of World War II.

Pickering continued to make appearances in regional League and Cup competitions between 1939-46.