John William Lane (29 May 1898 – June 1984) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside right. He is best remembered for his five years in the Football League with Brentford, for whom he made 234 appearances and was club captain. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015.
 Lane with Brentford in 1926. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John William Lane[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 29 May 1898[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Cradley Heath, England[2] | ||
| Date of death | June 1984 (aged 86)[3] | ||
| Place of death | Hammersmith, England[3] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[4] | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1920 | Cradley Heath | ||
| 1920–1923 | Burnley | 5 | (0) |
| 1923–1925 | Chesterfield | 65 | (19) |
| 1925–1931 | Brentford | 216 | (74) |
| 1931–1932 | Crystal Palace | 34 | (10) |
| 1932–1933 | Aldershot | 36 | (8) |
| Total | 356 | (111) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editBurnley
editAn inside forward, Lane began his career at hometown non-League club Cradley Heath.[2] He secured a move to the top flight of English football with Burnley in December 1920 and made his professional debut during the club's Championship-winning 1920–21 season.[1] He failed to make an impression at Turf Moor and departed in 1923, having made just five league appearances for the Clarets.[2]
Chesterfield
editLane dropped down to the Third Division North to sign for Chesterfield in 1923,[1] in part-exchange for Philip Pedlar.[5] The Spireites pushed hard for promotion during his time with the club and he departed in March 1925.[1] Lane made 70 appearances and scored 19 goals during his time at Saltergate.[3]
Brentford
editLane transferred to Third Division South strugglers Brentford in March 1925.[1] He got off to a good start at Griffin Park, scoring on his debut versus Swansea Town and scoring a further three goals in his final eight appearances of the season.[6] He established himself as a first team regular in the following season, making 40 appearances and scoring 9 goals.[6] The arrival of Harry Curtis as manager in 1926 saw Lane appointed as captain and was he was an automatic pick when fit.[1] His final two seasons were his best at Griffin Park, when he scored 19 goals in each of the 1929–30 and 1930–31 seasons.[6] As a recognition of his service to the club, Lane was awarded the proceeds from a London Combination match versus Southampton in 1930.[1] He departed Brentford in January 1931 and at the time was the club's record Football League goalscorer, having amassed 234 appearances and 86 goals during just under six years at Griffin Park.[7] Lane was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015.[8]
Crystal Palace
editLane transferred to Third Division South club Crystal Palace on 29 January 1931.[9] As with his time at Brentford, he narrowly missed out on promotion from the division and left the club in September 1932, having scored 10 goals in 34 appearances.[9][10]
Aldershot
editLane transferred to Third Division South club Aldershot in September 1932.[9] He played for one season at the Recreation Ground before retiring,[1] having scored eight goals in 36 appearances.[2]
Personal life
editAfter retiring from football in 1933, Lane was licensee of the Royal Horse Guardsmen pub in Ealing Road, Brentford until 1980.[1] He lived in Brentford and died in 1984.[1]
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Chesterfield | 1923–24[11] | Third Division North | 39 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 11 |
| 1924–25[12] | Third Division North | 26 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 8 | |
| Total | 65 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 70 | 19 | ||
| Brentford | 1924–25[6] | Third Division South | 9 | 4 | — | 9 | 4 | |
| 1925–26[6] | Third Division South | 38 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 9 | |
| 1926–27[6] | Third Division South | 41 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 49 | 13 | |
| 1927–28[6] | Third Division South | 37 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 11 | |
| 1928–29[6] | Third Division South | 32 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 33 | 11 | |
| 1929–30[6] | Third Division South | 34 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 19 | |
| 1930–31[6] | Third Division South | 25 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 30 | 19 | |
| Total | 216 | 74 | 18 | 12 | 234 | 86 | ||
| Career total | 281 | 93 | 23 | 12 | 304 | 105 | ||
Honours
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- ^ a b c d e Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 168. ISBN 978-1905891610.
- ^ a b c "Chesterfield FC: Player-based information". Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ Centaurus (22 August 1921). "First Division prospects. Burnley". Athletic News. Manchester. p. 5.
- ^ "Chesterfield FC line-ups, 1919 to date: 1922-23". Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 368–371. ISBN 0951526200.
- ^ "On This Day in History: 29 May". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ a b Wickham, Chris. "Kevin O'Connor and Marcus Gayle join others in being added to Brentford FC Hall of Fame". brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
- ^ a b c "John (Jack) Lane". Holmesdale Online. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ^ "Appearances". Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ^ "Chesterfield FC line-ups, 1919 to date: 1923-24". Retrieved 19 December 2016.
- ^ "Chesterfield FC line-ups, 1919 to date: 1924-25". Retrieved 19 December 2016.