Web Page 1186

28th September 2013

Top Picture: Jack Frogatt in his heyday

Bottom Picture: A crowded scene in Fratton Park

Jack Frogatt

Now lads who remembers ‘Jolly’ Jack Froggatt the ex Pompey player turned pub landlord? I think that most of us as youngsters at one time or another went into his pub, The Manor House, between Old Manor Way and Court Lane, to the Off License to buy sweets or pop. Then later, as we gre older, into the bar for a swift half.

Jack Froggatt came from a footballing family and he started his footballing career in 1945, whilst he was still in the RAF. His uncle, Frank and his cousin, Redfern both played for Sheffield Wednesday, with Redfern totalling 434 games for the team.

After being demobed from the RAF Jack started work in his fathers butcher shop in Sheffield but continiued to play football when in 1945 he was spotted by a scout and signed for Portsmouth as initially a centre-half but managed to persuade the then manager Jack Tinn to play him as an outside-left.

That season he crowned his Pompey debut with a second-half goal at The Dell in a War League South match against Southampton and from then on he went on to become a regular goal scorer. He was very agile and fast, had excellent ball control and was very strong in the air, making him one of the most versatile players Pompey have ever had.

He was a stocky player, who was known for his robust running and sharp shooting. He earned his first England cap on 6th November 1949, where he scored on his international debut, from the outside-left position in England’s 9-2 victory over Northern Ireland at Maine Road.

At this time Pompey had a distinguished line up with three top line players, Jack Froggatt, Jimmy Scoular (he made 268 appearances for Portsmouth and later moved to Newcastle, and Jimmy Dickinson, whose house in Staunton Road we would often pass on Hayling Island as we walked from the railway station to the beach. Jimmy Dickenson appeared for Portsmouth 845 times and was capped 48 times, making him Portsmouth’s most capped player ever. This remarkable line up was often seen as the most powerful half-back line in immediate post-war football as Pompey won consecutive the first division titles in 1948–49 and 1949–50.

Jack Froggatts inside left position was eventually taken over by Dougie Reid in his last season and for the rest of that seasons matches he was played out on the wing again. Reluctantly he left Pompey in March 1954 and then went on to play 143 matches for Leicester City, scoring 18 goals. In September 1957 he signed for Kettering Town for a staggerring fee of £6000.

He became player/manager of the club from January 1958, replacing Harry Mather until September 1961. Under his tenure the club saw promotion, a relegation and a Championship season and eventually he was succeeded by Wally Akers, but Jack still continued to play for the Kettering. His final league game being on 23rd March 1963.

His 20-year football career came to an end on 6th May 1963, and this was in a benefit match against one of his former clubs, Portsmouth. A crowd of 1,800 turned out to see Pompey race into a 4-0 lead after just 35 minutes, before goals from Dennis Randall, Jack Froggatt and George Armour made the score a bit more respectable.

Retiring from football, he returned to Portsmouth to become a publican. For 22 years, he kept the Manor House in Old Manor Way, East Cosham, then he took over The Milton Arms which was sited very near to Fratton Park and finally he took a hotel in Partridge Green, West Sussex.

Jack Frogatt died on 17^th February 1993 aged 70.

One thing to bear in mind is that the conditions at Fratton Park were vastly different in the days when Jack Frogatt played. There was little or no seating and the fans were packed in as tight as possible. The record number in the park is held by the FA Cup match against Derby in 1949 when the number of fans in the Park was reported as 51, 385 take a look at the picture above.

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:

Jonathon Writes:Hi Peter you are probably more of the norm than I in only moving three times. I really have lost count. As a child I lived in three addresses in Coventry, two in Warwick and then moved with my parents and brothers to Portsmouth in 1956. 
On getting married Carol and I had our first home in Cambridge, second in Bedhampton, third in Kingswinford and fourth in Warwick. We then emigrated to South Africa and had a succession of house moves, Jasmyn Apartments, Leipold Street, Donkin Street, Eugene Marais Street, Vlaardingen Street, another house in Eugene Marais Street, all the above in Sasolburg. Then we moved to Johannesburg and were in Sadie Street, Marico Road, Elephant Hills Apartments, and finally Vue Magnifique in Roodekrans, Krugersdorp. In between we lived in a number of houses in Reading, Bahrain, and Seoul. At a rough count 23 times. Sheer madness I know but that was the way you had to live in my wandering Contract Engineer's profession.

Griff writes:

I don't remember brown paper being put up at the windows of an empty house either but I do remember "Windowlene" a pink liquid window cleaner being applied to all the front windows which then dried to a white opaque finish and was a real elbow bending job to clean off to achieve a sparkly clear window glass.

You wouldn't dare do this today and why would you want to advertise your empty property really?   Hello ....empty property here..... ready for occupation by squatters...

News and Views:

Marvin Rainwater, best remembered for the #18 hit "Gonna Find Me A Bluebird" in 1957, died Tuesday (September 17) at his Aitkin, Minnesota home after what was described as a short illness. He was 88.

On this day 28th  September 1960-1965.

On 28/09/1960 the number one single was Apache - The Shadows and the number one album was Down Drury Lane to Memory Lane - A Hundred and One Strings. The top rated TV show was The Army Game (Granada) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions

On 28/09/1961 the number one single was Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain - Shirley Bassey and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 28/09/1962 the number one single was She's Not You - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Best of Ball Barber & Bilk. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 28/09/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 28/09/1964 the number one single was I'm Into Something Good - Herman's Hermits and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 25/09/1965 the number one single was Make It Easy On Yourself - Walker Brothers and the number one album was Help - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions