Herbert Jackson

Herbert Jackson was a half back and later club secretary of Fulham, who was at the club from 1893 until his suicide in 1906. Very much a club man, Bert's playing days pretty much ceased as the club moved towards professionalism and he played a monumental part in the running of the club at the turn of the 20th century.

Before Fulham
Born in Kensington, London in the first quarter of 1874, Bert had played with the Old Sherbrookians alongside future Fulham players like Henry Shrimpton before he played for the club himself.

Fulham (1893-1906)
Bert began playing for Fulham at the beginning of the 1893-94 season, and his earliest appearance came in a September friendly away to Chatham. Initially, he playing a combination of positions ranging from a half back to an inside right, though he eventually settled into his best position as a centre half. On 23 March 1894, he guested for Tottenham Hotspur in a friendly match for them against the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards.

He initially stepped down as a player in the summer of 1896 in order to focus on club matters at Fulham, though was called upon twice more to play for the team, most notably on 9 January 1897 where he played his last match for the club in farcical circumstances. Fulham were to play Forest Swifts, a club in Leytonstone, in a London League tie. However, three players (Sammy Aylott, Alec Frame and Tom Shrimpton) had failed to turn up as they had somehow travelled to the wrong ground, so this left a reserve player who would usually travel with the team to only enable Fulham to field 9 players. Ever the club man, Bert then took to the field in his normal clothes to take the team up to 10 players. Things got even worse for Fulham as three players - goalkeeper Fred Kingsbury, half back John Cox and skipper Henry Shrimpton were injured and could not play on, allowing the club's treasurer, Arthur Thomas to come on and play - again in normal clothes! Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fulham were thrashed by the scoreline of 8-1.

When the club became a limited company in May 1903, Bert was appointed as club secretary where he very much became a figurehead in Fulham's early development from a Southern League team on their way to becoming a Football League club. He would oversee matters such as the signing and selling of players, and the development of Craven Cottage as we know it now. His first job was to push through the admission to the Southern League, where he was successful, though was quoted as saying "I wouldn't go through that trying ordeal for a thousand pounds" to a reporter of The Sportsman newspaper.

On 22 February 1906, during an event at the Fulham Town Hall, Bert fell down a flight of stairs and badly injured his head. This would lead him to have painful migraines over the coming months and he was also reported to have acted strangely at times. It all came to an untimely end late on Friday 18th May 1906, when he decided to end his own life by shooting himself in the head with a revolver in the toilets of Southfields Train Station. A porter working at the station shortly afterwards found his body and inside his pocket a note, which read May 14, 1906 - I wish to bequeath the whole of my worldly possessions to my wife Nelly, and hope my relations will respect my last earthly wish. God forgive me for what I am doing, but I can no longer stand the awful pains in my poor head, and my brain refuses to work any longer. My love to my dear wife and all my people, and the Southern League, and the Cup for Fulham next year. Goodbye, Bert."''

His funeral took place the following Thursday, on 24 May 1906, at Wandsworth Cemetery in Putney Vale. A benefit match was later arranged between Fulham and a Rest of Southern League XI to financially aid his widow, which took place on Monday 17 September 1906.

Appearances

 * Incomplete data