Career
Born in Alloa, Jack played in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and Glossop, and the Southern League for Plymouth Argyle and Southend United. He was an outside forward. Jack is Argyle"s most successful and longest-serving manager.
Jack also managed Southend for four years.
Jack began his career with Alloa Athletic, making his debut at the age of 15 and turning professional in 1893. He moved to Bolton Wanderers in 1895.
He was Bolton"s leading scorer in the 1896-1897 season with 11 goals. He played a total for 110 league and 15 FA Cup games for the club, scoring 29 goals.
He left Bolton in August 1901, following a serious ankle injury.
He joined local rivals Preston North End after scoring 29 goals in 110 league games for Bolton. He spent just one season with Preston, scoring 6 goals in 22 league games, before joining Glossop the following summer. After a further 6 goals in 30 appearances he moved to Plymouth Argyle, becoming the club"s first professional in 1903.
He made his Argyle debut in September 1903 against West Ham United in the Western League.
In 1904-1905, the club"s handbook described him as "our famous flier, probably last season was the best in the player"s history". Following the departure of Frank Brettell, Jack became player-manager of Plymouth Argyle in 1905, 1905-1906, and led the club to third in the Western League and fifth in the Southern League.
He left the club in the summer to take up the position of player-manager at Southend United. He retired as a player at the end of the 1909-1910 season and re-joined Plymouth Argyle as manager, remaining in charge at Home Park until April 1938 when he retired.
During his 28 seasons in charge, Jack had guided Argyle to the Southern League title in 1913 and into the Football League in 1920.
In their first season in the league they finished 11th in the Third Division, but finished runners-up in all of the next six seasons. They finally clinched the title and promotion in the 1929-1930 season. In total, he took charge of 1,093 matches for the "Pilgrims".
Despite being Scottish, Jack represented England at bowls.
His ashes were scattered over the pitch at Home Park, Plymouth. Southend United
Southern League Second Division
Plymouth Argyle
Southern League First Division
Runner-up (1): 1911-1912
Football League Third Division South
Runner-up (6): 1921-1922, 1922-1923, 1923-1924, 1924-1925, 1925-1926, 1926-1927.