# Bob John
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_John
> Source revision: 1291426810
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{{short description|Welsh football player and manager}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Bob John
| image =
| fullname = Robert Frederick John
| birth_date = 3 February 1899
| birth_place = [Barry](/source/Barry%2C_Vale_of_Glamorgan), Wales
| death_date = {{death date and age|1982|7|17|1899|2|3|df=y}}
| death_place = Barry, Wales
| height = {{height|ft=5|in=7+1/2}}[{{cite news |title=Prospects of the clubs in the First Division of the League. Arsenal |author=Achates |newspaper=Athletic News |location=Manchester |date=20 August 1923 |page=5}}]
| position = [Left half](/source/Left_half), [left back](/source/left_back)
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 =
| years2 =
| years3 = 1922–1937
| clubs1 = [Barry Town](/source/Barry_Town_United_F.C.)
| clubs2 = [Caerphilly](/source/Caerphilly_F.C.)
| clubs3 = [Arsenal](/source/Arsenal_F.C.)
| caps1 =
| caps2 =
| caps3 = 421
| goals1 =
| goals2 =
| goals3 = 12
| nationalyears1 = 1923–1936
| nationalteam1 = [Wales](/source/Wales_national_football_team)
| nationalcaps1 = 15
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| manageryears1 = 1950
| managerclubs1 = [Torquay United](/source/Torquay_United_F.C.)
}}
'''Robert Frederick John''' (3 February 1899 – 17 July 1982) was a Welsh [football](/source/association_football) player and coach.
Born in [Barry](/source/Barry%2C_Vale_of_Glamorgan), John played for [Barry Town](/source/Barry_Town_F.C.) and [Caerphilly](/source/Caerphilly_F.C.), before joining English club [Arsenal](/source/Arsenal_F.C.), who signed him, against stiff competition, in January 1922 for a fee of £750. John made his Arsenal first-team debut on 28 October 1922 in a 2–1 defeat at home to [Newcastle United](/source/Newcastle_United_F.C.) and quickly became a regular, succeeding [Tom Whittaker](/source/Tom_Whittaker_(footballer)) at left half. His ability was such that soon after he made his debut for the [Welsh national side](/source/Wales_national_football_team), against [Scotland](/source/Scotland_national_football_team) on 17 March 1923; it was the first of fifteen caps.
John was displaced from the Arsenal side in [1923–24](/source/1923%E2%80%9324_in_English_football) thanks to competition from [Billy Blyth](/source/Billy_Blyth) and [Andrew Young](/source/Andrew_Young_(footballer)), but after being switched to [left back](/source/left_back) to cover for [Andy Kennedy](/source/Andy_Kennedy_(footballer_born_1897)), he was a near ever-present in [1924–25](/source/1924%E2%80%9325_in_English_football). Eventually however, John was switched back to left half, and this time he remained a first-team regular. A prodigious ball-winner and noted passer of the ball, John reached (but lost) the [FA Cup Final](/source/FA_Cup_Final_1927) with Arsenal in [1926–27](/source/1926%E2%80%9327_in_English_football), after a mistake by his compatriot and close friend [Dan Lewis](/source/Dan_Lewis_(footballer)); it was John who consoled Lewis after the final whistle, assuring him he would get another chance to a win a medal (although Lewis never did). He played in Arsenal's 2–1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in the [Charity Shield](/source/1930_FA_Charity_Shield) at [Stamford Bridge](/source/Stamford_Bridge_(stadium)) in October 1930.[{{Cite news | work = Sheffield Independent| title = Fortune smiles on the Arsenal | date = 8 October 1930 | accessdate = 22 March 2016 | page=10| via = British Newspaper Archive| url = http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001464/19301009/309/0010}}]
John remained in the Arsenal side through the first half of the 1930s, despite competition from [Charlie Jones](/source/Charlie_Jones_(footballer_born_1899)). He finally won some silverware with an FA Cup win in [1930](/source/1930_FA_Cup_Final), followed by three [First Division](/source/Football_League_First_Division) titles, in [1930–31](/source/1930%E2%80%9331_in_English_football), [1932–33](/source/1932%E2%80%9333_in_English_football) and [1933–34](/source/1933%E2%80%9334_in_English_football), as well as the [FA Charity Shield](/source/FA_Charity_Shield) in [1933](/source/1933_FA_Charity_Shield) and [1934](/source/1934_FA_Charity_Shield).[{{cite news |url=https://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/CommunityShield/1933-34CharityShield.htm |title=1933/34 F.A. Charity Shield |website=footballsite.co.uk |access-date=2 February 2022}}][{{cite news |url=https://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/CommunityShield/1934-35CharityShield.htm |title=1934/35 F.A. Charity Shield |website=footballsite.co.uk |access-date=2 February 2022}}] John also scored Arsenal's only goal of the [1932 FA Cup final](/source/1932_FA_Cup_final), in which Arsenal were controversially beaten by [Newcastle United](/source/Newcastle_United_F.C.). By this time he was one of the senior members of the Arsenal squad, and mentored many of the club's younger new arrivals, such as [Alex James](/source/Alex_James_(footballer)).
Although John played for Arsenal until his retirement in 1938, for the final three years of his career he was mainly a reserve player, having lost his place to [Wilf Copping](/source/Wilf_Copping), and thus missed out on a medal in the Gunners' League win of [1934–35](/source/1934%E2%80%9335_in_English_football). Nevertheless, he played 470 times for the club in total, the most of any of Arsenal's pre-[World War II](/source/World_War_II) players; as of 2006 he is tenth in the club's all-time appearances table.
On retiring in 1938, John joined the coaching staff at [West Ham United](/source/West_Ham_United_F.C.). He later joined [Torquay United](/source/Torquay_United_F.C.) as trainer, working under his former Highbury teammate [Jack Butler](/source/Jack_Butler_(footballer%2C_born_1894)), but when Butler left for [Crystal Palace](/source/Crystal_Palace_F.C.) in May 1947, John followed, again as trainer. In 1949 he was appointed trainer-coach at [Cardiff City](/source/Cardiff_City_F.C.), a position he held until March 1950 when he was appointed manager of Torquay United. He had an unsuccessful spell as manager at [Plainmoor](/source/Plainmoor), winning only 7 of the 28 games he was in charge for and left his post in November 1950.
He finished his football career as a scout for Cardiff City. He died in [Barry](/source/Barry%2C_Vale_of_Glamorgan) in 1982, at the age of 83. In 2008, his descendants loaned his shirts from the 1927, 1930 and 1932 FA Cup Finals to the Arsenal FC Museum.[{{cite web |title=FA Cup Final shirts loaned to Arsenal Museum |url=http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/fa-cup-final-shirts-loaned-to-arsenal-museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222070545/http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/fa-cup-final-shirts-loaned-to-arsenal-museum |archive-date=2014-02-22 |work=Arsenal.com}}]
==Honours==
===As a player===
'''Arsenal'''
* [Football League First Division](/source/Football_League_First_Division): [1930–31](/source/1930%E2%80%9331_Football_League_First_Division), [1932–33](/source/1932%E2%80%9333_Football_League_First_Division), [1933–34](/source/1933%E2%80%9334_Football_League_First_Division)
* [FA Cup](/source/FA_Cup) winner: [1929–30](/source/1929%E2%80%9330_FA_Cup); runner-up: [1926–27](/source/1926%E2%80%9327_FA_Cup), [1931–32](/source/1931%E2%80%9332_FA_Cup)
* [FA Charity Shield](/source/FA_Charity_Shield): [1930](/source/1930_FA_Charity_Shield), [1933](/source/1933_FA_Charity_Shield), [1934](/source/1934_FA_Charity_Shield)
==References==
*{{cite book |
last=Harris|first=Jeff|editor-last=Hogg|editor-first=Tony |
title=Arsenal Who's Who |
publisher=Independent UK Sports |
year=1995 |
isbn=1-899429-03-4 }}
{{reflist}}
{{Torquay United F.C. managers}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Bob}}
Category:1899 births
Category:1982 deaths
Category:Welsh men's footballers
Category:Wales men's international footballers
Category:Barry Town United F.C. players
Category:Caerphilly F.C. players
Category:Arsenal F.C. players
Category:Welsh football managers
Category:Torquay United F.C. managers
Category:Footballers from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan
Category:Men's association football defenders
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bob John](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_John) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_John?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.