Jack Beby

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Jack Beby

| image = Jack Beby.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Jack Beby with AEK Athens in 1949

| fullname = John Victor Beby

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1907|8|23}}

| birth_place = Gillingham, Kent, England

| death_date = {{death-date and age|June 1976|August 1907|1976}}

| death_place = Chatham, Kent, England

| height = 6 ft 2 in{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-sun-darlington-season-preview/134122052// |title=Darlington's ups and downs |newspaper=Sunday Sun |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |date=19 August 1934 |page=20 |via=Newspapers.com}}

| position = Goalkeeper

| years1 =

| clubs1 = Cuxton

| years2 = 1924–1925

| clubs2 = Charlton Athletic

| caps2 = 0

| goals2 = 0

| years3 =

| clubs3 = Grenadier Guards

| years4 = 1929–1930

| clubs4 = Gillingham

| caps4 = 20

| goals4 = 0

| years5 = 1930–1932

| clubs5 = Leicester City

| caps5 = 29

| goals5 = 0

| years6 = 1932

| clubs6 = Ashford Town (Kent)

| years7 = 1932–1933

| clubs7 = Bristol Rovers

| caps7 = 24

| goals7 = 0

| years8 = 1933–1934

| clubs8 = Crystal Palace

| caps8 = 0

| goals8 = 0

| years9 = 1934–1936

| clubs9 = Darlington

| caps9 = 74

| goals9 = 0

| years10 = 1936

| clubs10 = Exeter City

| caps10 = 10

| goals10 = 0

| years11 =

| clubs11 = Ashington

| years12 =

| clubs12 = Vickers Aviation

| years13 =

| clubs13 = Shorts Sports

| totalcaps = 157

| totalgoals = 0

| manageryears1 = 1948–1951

| managerclubs1 = AEK Athens

}}

John Victor Beby (23 August 1907 – 1976) was an English footballer who made 157 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Gillingham, Leicester City, Bristol Rovers, Darlington and Exeter City in the 1920s and 1930s.{{cite book |last=Joyce |first=Michael |title=Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 |publisher=SoccerData |location=Nottingham |page=21 |date=2004 |isbn=978-1-899468-67-6}} After his playing career ended, he took up coaching. As well as coaching amateur clubs in England, he was manager of Greek club AEK Athens for three years.

Personal life

Beby was born in Gillingham, Kent, in 1907. As a youngster, he played football for local team Cuxton, and was on the books of Charlton Athletic, before enlisting in the Grenadier Guards. Apart from his military duties, Beby represented his regiment in the shot put,{{cite news |title=Athletics. Services at Horsham |newspaper=Manchester Guardian |date=9 September 1928 |page=26}} and played cricket, primarily as a bowler, for his regiment and for the Household Brigade.{{cite news |title=School and club cricket. I Zingari win |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=12 June 1928 |page=6}}
{{cite news |title=Old Wykehamists beat Household Brigade |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=27 June 1928 |page=6}}

By early 1931, Beby was married with a child. He died in Chatham, Kent, in 1976 at the age of 68.{{cite web |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=ae1vNWiblv6CiOIBuPY4vQ&scan=1 |title=Index entry |website=FreeBMD |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=10 October 2019}}

Playing career

Beby returned to football with Third Division South club Gillingham in 1929.{{cite news |last=Reynard |title=All's well on West Ham front |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=1 December 1930 |page=16 |quote=While Beby was not quite as safe as Dixon, he played well, and I was interested to learn that he has never seen a First League match apart from those in which he has played. He went straight out of the Guards to Gillingham, and then on to Leicester.}} He made his debut in the Third Division South on 26 December 1929, against Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic,{{cite web |url=http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/news/article/otd-dec-26-559371.aspx |title=On this day... |first=Richard |last=Day |publisher=Gillingham F.C. |date=26 December 2012 |accessdate=27 May 2014}} and the following April, after he had played just 20 league games, First Division club Leicester City paid a "substantial" transfer fee for his services.

Beby began his Leicester career in their reserve team,{{cite news |title=New goalkeeper for Leicester |newspaper=Manchester Guardian |date=26 April 1930 |page=8 |quote=...and he will play for Leicester City in the London Combination against Southend United today.}} but impressed when he came into the first team at the start of the new season. Against Birmingham, "it was only the fine work of Beby, the Leicester reserve goalkeeper, that kept them from making a draw, if not, indeed, even forcing a win",{{cite news |title=Heroic Hibbs |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=2 September 1930 |page=13}} and at Manchester City, "it may be conceded that perhaps never again during the season will so many remarkable saves be made in one afternoon as were brought off by this reserve keeper", and when "a merciless assault was sustained on the Leicester goal. With the crowd behind him roaring and swaying like human breakers, one saw Beby leaping up, fisting out, diving down, most amazingly keeping the ball out of the net, most cleverly getting it away when surrounded by blue shirts."{{cite news |title=The eclipse of Manchester. Leicester win Cities' battle. Great goalkeeping |newspaper=Manchester Guardian |date=8 September 1930 |page=3}} Despite such a successful start to his Leicester career, he asked for a transfer after less than a year with the club; according to the Daily Express, "Beby [said] the Leicester air [did] not suit himself, his wife or his child".{{cite news |last=Reynard |title=Beby asks for transfer |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=12 February 1931 |page=23}} He remained a Leicester player until the 1932 close season, perhaps because the asking price was too high; in August, in response to an application by the player, the Football League reduced the fee,{{cite news |title=Benefits & transfer fees. The League's decisions |newspaper=Manchester Guardian |date=6 August 1932 |page=6}} and Beby left the club.{{cite news |title=Leicester City gaps |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=10 August 1932 |page=10}}

After a few weeks playing for Kent-based club Ashford Town, Beeby returned to the Football League in October with Bristol Rovers.{{cite news |title=Bromilow now a manager. Jack Beby signs for Bristol Rovers |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=5 October 1932 |page=17}} After one season and 24 league matches, he moved on to Crystal Palace, also of the Third Division South.{{cite news |title=Confidence at Selhurst Park |newspaper=Daily Mirror |location=London |date=11 August 1933 |page=27}} His only senior game for that club came in the Southern Section Cup. Palace were drawn to play away to Exeter City on 24 January 1934, but were due to face Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup three days later. While the first team had a week's training at Brighton in preparation for their FA Cup tie, Palace fielded their reserve team at Exeter, as was permitted by the competition rules, and lost by the unusual score of eleven goals to six.{{cite news |title=Palace do not fear the Arsenal |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=23 January 1934 |page=12}}{{cite news |title=Pity the poor 'keepers! |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=25 January 1934 |page=16}} In March, after less than a year with Palace, Beby joined Third Division North club Darlington.{{cite news |title=Soccer transfer rush |newspaper=Daily Mirror |location=London |date=15 March 1934 |page=30}} He spent just short of two years at Darlington, playing regular first-team football, before finishing the 1935–36 season, and his Football League career, with Exeter City.{{cite news |title=Boscombe sign Wolves forward |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=7 March 1936 |page=17}} His playing career wound down in non-league football with Ashington, Vickers Aviation and Shorts Sports.

Managerial career

From 1948 to 1951, Beby was manager of Greek club AEK Athens. During his tenure he attempted to impose an element of professionalism on the team's approach to its work. He introduced shirt numbering, which had not previously been used in Greece,{{cite web |url=http://www.aekfc.gr/index.asp?a_id=3016 |title=The first post-war titles |publisher=AEK FC |access-date=27 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317182700/http://www.aekfc.gr/index.asp?a_id=3016 |archive-date=17 March 2014 |url-status=dead}} and set the team up to play in the WM formation, the system then generally used in Britain.{{cite book |url=http://www.aek.com/AEKhistory/history_ixo1953.pdf |pages=50–51 |title=Η Ιστορία της ΑΕΚ |language=Greek |trans-title=The History of AEK |first=Panos |last=Makridis |publisher=Αθλητική Ηχώ (The Athletic Echo) |year=1953}} He led the team to consecutive victories in the Greek Cup, in 1949 and 1950, before leaving the club suddenly in 1951.Makridis, Η Ιστορία της ΑEΚ, p. 60.{{cite web |url=https://www.aekfc.gr/fp/1950-1959-43150.htm?lang=en&path=-442854928 |title=1950–1959 |publisher=AEKFC |accessdate=4 June 2017}} He later told the Daily Express that AEK provided him with a furnished house and paid him £31 a week tax free.{{cite news |title=John Beby takes over |first=Leslie |last=Nichol |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=17 September 1951 |page=2}}

In August 1951, he was appointed coach of amateur club Ilford, then playing in the Isthmian League;{{cite news |title=New Ilford coach |newspaper=Daily Express |location=London |date=9 August 1951 |page=2}} he was the first professional to hold the position. By the start of the 1954–55 season, he was working as trainer and coach of Faversham Town; it was reported that "although his time at Salters Lane was relatively short, it was noted there were already signs of better football."{{cite news |title=Buoyed by a pep talk |newspaper=Faversham Times |date=19 August 2009 |page=15}}