Jack Vinall

Edward John Vinall Date of Birth: Dec 16, 1910

Born right by Villa Park in 1910, Jack was on the books of rivals Birmingham as a youngster but moved on to Folkestone to gain regular football.

Spotted by Sunderland in 1931 he spent two seasons at Roker Park, making 16 League appearances in that time before making a move to Norwich where his career really took off.

Ever present for three of his four seasons, during which time Norwich were promoted to Division Two, he scored 72 goals for the Canaries in 168 starts before a surprise move to Luton in October 1937.

The Town, fearing an injury to Joe Payne was likely to be long term, paid a record £3000 for Jack’s services and he hit the ground running. Not as quick as Payne or as good in the air his ball control and distribution skills were superior and when Joe returned faster than expected the ten goal man had to revert to inside forward.

A bad injury in October 1938 kept Jack out of the side for several months and by the time of his return the Town had a new hero, Hugh Billington, at centre-forward so his appearances were cut back.

In a reserve occupation (engineer) during the War, Jack turned out for the Town when available but once hostilities had ceased he had a brief spell with Walsall before joining Worcester City who he managed for a time and scouted for Aston Villa.

Jack passed away in Worcester in 1997.