Jesse Pennington

Jesse Pennington

Personal information
Full name	Jesse Pennington
Date of birth	23 August 1883(1883-08-23)
Place of birth	West Bromwich, England
Date of death	5 September 1970(1970-09-05) (aged 87)
Place of death	Kidderminster, England
Playing position	Left-back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1903–1922	West Bromwich Albion	455	(0)
National team
1907–1920	England	25	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Jesse Pennington (23 August 1883 – 5 September 1970) was an English football player in the early part of the 20th century. He was nicknamed "Peerless Pennington".

Born in West Bromwich, Pennington was a left-back for West Bromwich Albion for 19 years, from March 1903 to May 1922. Although his career was interrupted by World War I, Pennington made 455 league appearances for the club, captaining them to the league title in 1919–1920. He had also been a part of the team promoted from the Second Division in 1911 and had received an FA Cup runners-up medal in 1912.

On the international front, Pennington earned 25 caps for England between 18 March 1907 and 10 April 1920, captaining the side on one occasion. At the time of his final cap he was, at 36 years and 231 days, England's oldest capped outfield player. This record has since been exceeded by Stanley Matthews, Leslie Compton and Stuart Pearce.

After retiring, he worked as a scout for West Bromwich Albion from 1950 to 1960 and was made a life member of the club in 1969, a year before he died in Kidderminster. Pennington was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest players in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations in 2004.^[1]

The Bioletti scandal

In 1913, Pennington was approached by Pascoe Bioletti who offered £5 per player for Albion corruptly to endeavour not to win their forthcoming game against Everton F.C. on 29 November.^[2] Pascoe's son, William Alfred Bioletti, was operator of a football betting business in Geneva.

Pennington alerted the police and after the game, which ended in a draw, he met Bioletti, ostensbily for the pay-off, at which point the police moved in to arrest Bioletti. Bioletti was sentenced to 5 months' imprisonment in 1914.

Pennington also owned a fishing tackle shop on the boarder between West Bromwich and Smethwick.

References

1. ^ "The wraps come off 125th anniversary mural". West Bromwich Albion F.C.. 2004-11-17. http://www.wba.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/0,,10366~547701,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-26. 
2. ^ Sharpe, G. (2003). Free the Manchester United One: The Inside Story of Football's Greatest Scam. London: Robson Books. ISBN 1-86105-633-8.  p.5

External links

• Englandstats.com profile

Persondata
Name	Pennington, Jesse
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 August 1883
Place of birth	West Bromwich, England
Date of death	5 September 1970
Place of death	Kidderminster, England

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