Carr Jack Image 3 Newcastle United 1905

Description

Seaton Burn, Northumberland born left half and left back Jack Carr began his football career with Seaton Burn, from where he signed for First Division Newcastle United in November 1897, making his Football League debut at Nottingham Forest in December 1899, immediately becoming a first team regular and featuring throughout arguably the most successful period in Newcastle United’s history. He was an ever present in 1900-01 as Newcastle finished 6th in the First Division, and was a regular through to Newcastle’s first League Championship in 1904-05, when he missed 7 matches during the campaign, which also saw him play in the FA Cup Final as Newcastle lost 2-0 to Aston Villa at The Crystal Palace, Carr playing left back in the Final, a berth he had taken over from November 1904.

He won his first England cap in a 1-1 draw with Ireland at Ayresome Park in February 1905, and won a further cap also in a 1-0 win against Ireland at Goodison Park in February 1907. He also played once for The Football League.

In 1906 he again played in the FA Cup Final but Newcastle again lost, this time to Everton. Carr’s final season as a first team regular was 1906-07, when Newcastle again won the League Championship, and he also played in Newcastle’s Sheriff of London Charity Shield win over The Corinthians at Craven Cottage in May 1907. He played another five seasons from The Toon, but he was increasingly a fringe player. Despite only making 8 League appearances in 1909-10, he played as Newcastle United beat Barnsley 2-0 in the replay of the 1910 FA Cup Final at Goodison Park, taking Tom Whitson’s place from the drawn match at The Crystal Palace. His last match for The Toon came against Woolwich Arsenal in January 1912, by when he had scored 5 goals in 278 appearances.

In 1912 he became a trainer at Newcastle United and would fill this position for the next 10 years, during which time Carr served as a corporal in the Army Service Corps during the First World War. Carr was the coach of the Danish national side at the 1920 Summer Olympics football competition in Antwerp. He eventually left Newcastle United when Blackburn Rovers made him their manager in February 1922. He remained their manager until December 1926 when he retired from professional football.

NB This superb image was published on a postcard published before the FA Cup Final at The Crystal Palace on 15th April 1905, which Newcastle United lost 2-0 to Aston Villa, with both goals scored in either half by Harry Hampton. This was to be the first of four FA Cup Final appearances in 6 years, although they only managed to win it in 1910.

The team line up, from left to right, is:

Back Row – Andy Aitken, Billy McCracken, Bert Gosnell, Jimmy Howie, Jock Rutherford

Middle Row – Andy McCombie, Peter McWilliam, Ronald Orr

Front Row – Jimmy Lawrence, Jack Carr, Colin Veitch

In reality Billy McCracken, who played some of the games in April 1905 and was still a young player, and Ronald Orr didn’t play in the Final, Alec Gardner and Bill Appleyard, both not pictured, played. Regardless, it’s a beautiful image.

A similar postcard of the Aston Villa team was also published.