Biography
John Tom “Jack” Manning hailed from Boston and played as a teenager for Boston Town before he was snapped up by Hull City in April 1905 and given his debut in a friendly against Barnsley, five months prior to the Tigers’ first League game. Manning was an outside right known for his turn of pace and powerful shot, attributes he demonstrated when he made his first senior appearance for the club in an FA Cup tie against Denaby United in October 1905. Within a couple of weeks Jack had usurped Harry Simmon as first choice outside right and scored his first City goal in a December 1905 2-1 win over Leicester Fosse. Further goals against Lincoln City and Clapton Orient over the festive period cemented his first team place and he missed only three more games for the rest of Hull City’s inaugural League season.
Manning began the 1906/07 season in a similar vein and missed only two of the club’s first 32 fixtures. He hit goalscoring form in December 1906, striking four times included a brace in a 5-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. However Jack was used in a support role from March 1907 onwards, adding his final City goal in the penultimate game of the season against Burnley. He left the Tigers in the 1907 close season.
Manning signed for newly formed Bradford Park Avenue in August 1907 and was a regular scorer for the Southern League new boys – despite being located in the heart of Yorkshire, resolutely not in the south, Bradford replaced promoted Fulham in the Southern League. When Bradford Park Avenue joined Division Two of the Football League a year later Manning scored twelve goals in 50 senior appearances across two seasons, including an October 1908 hattrick against lower league side Denby Dale.
In June 1910 it was apparent that Bradford Park Avenue were unable to agree suitable terms with Manning to retain his services and he joined Lancashire Combination side Rochdale, where he also took work as a professional cricketer. In August 1911 he returned to Lincolnshire and joined Central League side Lincoln City, who had just been relegated from Division Two. This started an association with the Imps that would last eight years and span the entire period of World War One. Manning helped Lincoln City lift the Central League title in April 1912, which prompted the Imps’ immediate return to the Football League Division Two, then spent three seasons playing in the Football League for the Sincil Bank side. He reopened his Football League goalscoring account in September 1912 against Stockport County and by the time the war drew the Football League to a close in April 1915 Manning had scored nine goals for the Imps in 95 appearances. He also assisted Lincoln City in wartime fixtures.
When the Football League resumed in September 1919 Manning joined Division Two side Rotherham County but he made only five appearances for the Millers during the 1919/20 season. Manning joined Division Three South new boys Queens Park Rangers in June 1920, continuing his association with clubs newly promoted to the Football League, and scored five goals in 27 appearances for the Londoners.
Manning returned to Boston in the summer of 1921, rejoined Boston Town and took work on the town’s docks. He died in March 1946, just a week after his sixtieth birthday.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 8 March 1886, Boston
Hull City First Game: 28 October 1905, Denaby United A (FA Cup Second Qualifying Round), 19 years, 234 days old
Hull City Final Game: 27 April 1907, Leeds City A (Division Two), 21 years, 50 days old
Clubs
Boston Town (1904-1905), Hull City (1905-1907), Bradford Park Avenue (1907-1910), Rochdale (1910-1911), Lincoln City (1911-1919), Rotherham County (1919-1920), Queens Park Rangers (1920-1921), Boston Town
Hull City Record
Career: 62 apps, 9 goals
Jack Manning| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905/06 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1906/07 | 30 | 6 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |