In a quiet corner of Streatham Park Cemetery, 15 miles south of Wembley and a long way from Bolton, you can find the final resting place of David Bone Nightingale Jack.
Only you won’t find it. Not easily anyway. Because David Jack is buried with his wife Kathleen, who also died in 1958 at the age of 60, in an unmarked grave. A plain patch of grass that offers not the slightest clue about the man whose remains are buried there.
The man who scored the first ever goal at Wembley in the legendary ‘White Horse’ FA Cup final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United 100 years ago next month.
The man who became football’s first £10,000 player when he joined Arsenal from Bolton for a world record fee in 1928. The man who captained England on four occasions.
A blue plaque will be unveiled at Jack’s birthplace at 119 Chorley Old Road in Bolton — which is now a convenience store — on April 29, the day after the centenary of the White Horse Final.
But it was only when plans were made to celebrate Jack’s life that the mystifying and rather sad circumstances surrounding his death came to light. The fact he lies in an unmarked grave has only been confirmed in recent days.
‘I was very surprised that nobody bothered to put a gravestone there,’ Bob Jack, his 88-year-old nephew, told Sportsmail.
‘It came as a shock to me,’ adds Gordon Niven, a family friend of 50 years who campaigned for the plaque and would now like to see a fitting memorial for Jack in the cemetery as well.
‘I just couldn’t fathom how that could come about. I don’t think we’ll ever get the reason why, but it has to be corrected.’
Jack assumed his place in history two minutes into the 1923 FA Cup final, an event so chaotic it beggars belief by modern standards. More than 200,000 spectators —well in excess of the official attendance of 126,047 — brought carnage to Wembley for the first game at the new Empire Stadium.
The venue cost an unprecedented £750,000 and the FA were glad to play the role of guinea pig by using their Cup final as a test event. When the decision was made to shut the gates, tens of thousands of fans forced their way in and massed around the pitch.
King George V, who was there to present the trophy, was advised to return to Buckingham Palace because there was little or no chance of the match taking place. He declined and was rewarded when, almost impossibly, it started 45 minutes behind schedule after police patiently cleared supporters back to the touchline —famously led by PC George Scorey and his ‘white’ horse Billie, actually a grey.
It was a miracle nobody was killed but there were still reports of 900 injured, many due to fainting in crushes. The crowds parted to let the players on to the pitch, although there was no chance of them getting back into the dressing rooms at half-time.
Bolton goalkeeper Dick Pym recalled: ‘When we came out, all we could see was the top of the crossbars.’
Referee David Asson told captains Joe Smith and George Kay: ‘Let’s start the game, and hope we can finish!’
Spectators were still crammed together behind both goals and along the touchlines when the match got under way, a situation that is said to have contributed to both Bolton’s goals.
West Ham defender Jack Tresadern got swallowed up by the crowd after taking a throw-in, and Jack was able to beat keeper Ted Hutton with a shot so fierce that it knocked out one fan standing behind the net. When winger Ted Vizard crossed for Jack Smith to complete the 2-0 win, there was a strong suspicion fans had kept the ball in play.
‘The best pass I had all day came from a spectator,’ Vizard later confessed. ‘I had to lean on them to take a corner. If they gave me a push, I could take one stride and kick the ball.’