JACK PICKEN

Full Name: John Barclay Picken

Born: 07 June 1880

Came from: Bolton Wanderers   Went to: Manchester United

First game: 01 September 1903   Last game: 24 April 1905

Appearances: 90 (90/0)   Goals: 46

Picken was born in Hurlford, a village in East Ayrshire situated on the outskirts of Kilmarnock, Scotland.

An inside-forward, he began his career in his home town playing for Hurlford Thistle before joining local junior side Kilmarnock Shawbank, who existed as a feeder club to local professional side Kilmarnock (as was common at the time) and existed from 1885 to 1906.

In 1899, he moved to England to sign for Bolton Wanderers, helping the Trotters to promotion in his first season. He spent four years at Bolton, scoring 22 goals in 101 league appearances before suffering a broken leg in November 1902

Having not played for six months, he joined Argyle in 1903 as a Frank Brettell signing and was a great success during the club's first two professional seasons. The Argyle handbook of 1904-05 states "the good work this artist accomplished has been rightly esteemed and if he can obtain immunity from disaster even greater benefit will accrue to the club, spectators and player alike".

His two seasons were a huge success, he scored 46 times in 90 games, including two hat-tricks in three games in October 1904 against New Brompton and Tottenham Hotspur, and helped the club win the Western League title in 1904-05.

His impressive goalscoring record brought him to the attention of Manchester United, whom he signed for in 1905. During six seasons there he helped the team win the First Division twice (1907-08 & 1910-11) and the FA Charity Shield in 1908. He was not selected for the 1909 FA Cup Final and missed out on a medal. During the 1910-11 season, Picken and Dick Holden shared a benefit match (the Newcastle United match in October 1910), from which both players received a guaranteed £300 (around £45,000 in 2026 terms) for their long service. In total he played 122 times and scored 46 goals for United.

In December 1911, he left United to join Burnley in the Second Division. Playing 18 times and scoring 10 goals between 1911-13, they were promoted in his second season after a near miss in the first. However, he chose to remain in the Second Division, and joined Bristol City in October 1913, where he spent the final two seasons of his career, playing 51 times and scoring 13 goals between 1911-15.

He retired from playing in 1915 and returned to Plymouth. In his later years he worked in the Dockyard and in the 1939 Register was listed as a licensee (publican), living in Chestnut Road, Peverell, a stone's throw from Home Park.

Jack passed away in Devonport, in July 1952, aged 72 years old.