By the time he arrived at Second Division Southampton, 31 year-old Jack Scott had already packed a sporting life into his twenties. Not only had he played Rugby League for Featherstone Rovers, but he had been in the ring – training with Olympic wrestler, Harold Angus, and sparring with George Slack, the Doncaster heavyweight boxer. Having come late to football, he had two seasons with Doncaster Rovers in the Third North before joining Norwich City, where he remained for six seasons, during which they were promoted from the Third South to Division II.

When Norwich’s manager, Tom Parker, left to take over at Southampton in February 1937, Jack soon followed him.

His duties would be many: look after the nursery side; turn out regularly at centre-half for the “A” team; and be on stand-by to play, in an emergency, for the first team.

The emergency came over Christmas 1937, when a shortage of fit forwards required Jack to fill in at centre-forward, with debutant, Ted Bates, alongside him. He played once more for the Saints in war-time competition and as a guest, locally, notably with Folland Aircraft. While a bunch of pros who had guested for Follands were featuring in the Saints’ early post-war seasons, Jack was coaching in the Southampton Senior League. After that, he concentrated on his job in a setting whose tranquility belied his vigorous sporting life. The City Library.