Jack Moody
Born in Heeley in 1903, Jack was a slater by trade. He played for Sheffield Boys and attracted good reports playing as an amateur for Hathersage, in the Peak District. A trial at Sheffield United came to nothing and it was left to Arsenal to give him his first chance in senior football, picking him up from Norton Woodseats in 1925. He played six times for the Gunners before moving back up north to Bradford, where he played another six times for the Park Avenue side between 1928 and 1930. Doncaster Rovers had him for two years before his career took another upturn, with a move to Manchester United in 1932. He played 50 times in 18 months for them and was thus their first-choice keeper at the time that Chesterfield came in for him in August 1933.
Jack was blessed with keen anticipation and could kick the heavy balls of his era well over the halfway line. He became a beacon of reliability in the team's defence until losing his place to the young Ray Middleton in 1938. He fell quickly down the pecking order after that, and was released to join Buxton in the summer of 1939.
Action from a game at Feetham's in 1936. The caption reads "One of the outstanding features of Chesterfield's great victory at Darlington on Saturday was the brilliance of Moody in the Chesterfield goal..."
