Eastham Jack Image 1 Southampton 1910

Description

Blackburn, Lancashire born full back Jack Eastham joined hometown First Division club Blackburn Rovers from local schools football in March 1900, aged 17, making his Football League debut at Sunderland in November 1901. Playing at left back for Blackburn, he made a further 7 appearances for Rovers before the season end and started the following season in the first eleven, and having lost his place in October he regained it in the New Year and played in most of Blackburn’s remaining fixtures as they finished sixteenth in the division. He was again prominent in the early stages of Rovers’ 1903-04 campaign but lost his place in November 1903 and played only 7 matches during the second half of the season, and not at all during 1904-05 due to the arrival of Scottish international Jock Cameron from St Mirren.

In September 1905, Eastham moved to Glossop, making 26 appearances as the club finished near the foot of the Second Division table. Eastham then moved to the south coast in May 1906, when he was persuaded to join Southampton, who had finished as runners-up in the Southern League in the 1905-06 season. He made an anonymous start to his career at The Dell but by the end of the 1906-07 season he had taken over the right back position from Bill Clarke, whose career had ended following a serious knee injury. Eastham scored his first goal for the Saints in a 2-1 defeat of Bristol Rovers in the final match of the season.

In 1907-08, Eastham settled into the right back role, although he missed two long periods through injury (when the versatile John Robertson took over) making 22 appearances in all as The Saints finished eleventh in the League. In the FA Cup, Eastham played in all six matches as The Saints made it through to the 1908 FA Cup semi final, after a replay in the Fourth Round, when they defeated the previous season’s runners-up Everton 3-2 (including two goals from Frank Costello). In the semi final itself, played at Stamford Bridge on 28th March 1908, The Saints were defeated by eventual winners Wolverhampton Wanderers, with goals from former Southampton players Wally Radford and George Hedley.

Eastham was by now becoming “one of the club’s finest right backs during the Southern League era” who was an indispensable member of the side; described as “robust and fearless”, he became team captain and provided invaluable guidance to the younger members of the team. At the start of the 1908-09 season, the Saints reeled off seven consecutive victories before a series of injuries to key players disrupted the side, who eventually finished the season in third place, with Eastham missing only three matches. The following season, Eastham again missed a long spell from October to December through injury.

In 1910-11, Eastham managed to avoid injury and was one of the few players to show any consistency as The Saints struggled to narrowly avoid relegation. At the start of the 1911-12 season, the club recognised Eastham’s worth by granting him a benefit match against Portsmouth played on 18th September 1911. The Monday night match was poorly attended with Portsmouth playing a team consisting mainly of reserve players, who nonetheless kept the score down to 2-1, with Southampton’s goals coming from Hamilton and McAlpine.

For the 1911-12 season, Southampton’s new manager George Swift recruited eleven new players, but Eastham retained his place at right back. After his testimonial match, he missed the next eight games with Dan Gordon and Frank Grayer filling in for him. Eastham returned to the line-up in mid-November, but by the end of the season he had lost his place to Gordon. In the summer of 1912, Eastham decided to retire. During his six years with Southampton, he made a total of 175 appearances, scoring four goals