Plant Jack Image 5 Bury 1905

Description

Bollington, Cheshire born outside left Jack Plant began his career in local football with Denton and Bollington, joining Heaton Norris in 1893, from where he was signed by Second Division Bury in 1894, making his Football League debut that September against Manchester City, scoring 12 goals during the campaign as Bury won promotion to the top flight as Second Division Champions, winning a Test Match against Liverpool in April 1895 to confirm their promotion. Plant was a regular performer for 3 seasons in the First Division for Bury, but in the 1898 close season transferred to Southern League Reading, spending a season at Elm Park before returning to Gigg Lane in the summer of 1899.

Plant played 8 Cup ties in his first season back, scoring twice including the 4th goal in the FA Cup Final as Bury won the FA Cup for the first time in April 1900, beating Southern League Southampton 4-0 in the Final at The Crystal Palace. Two weeks earlier Plant had been awarded his only England cap, playing in a 4-1 defeat by Scotland at Celtic Park.

In 1903 Plant again helped Bury to FA Cup glory and again scored, in this case the fifth goal of the game, to help inflict a 6-0 defeat on Derby County at The Crystal Palace, which still remains the highest margin of victory in an FA Cup Final. He continued to play regularly until 1905, but lost his place at the start of the 1905-06 season and made only 15 more appearances during his final two seasons at Gigg Lane, during which he amassed 67 goals in 352 appearances for  The Shakers. In 1907 he joined non league Heywood United before his eventual retirement.

NB this photograph was taken before a match at Nottingham Forest on 16th September 1905. Forest won the game 3-2.