| Bth | 16/08/1917 | Church Gresley | |
| P/H/W | Goalkeeper | 5ft 11.5in | 13st |
| Jnd | 07/47 (29) | Preston | £6,500 |
| Deb | 03/09/47 (30) | Plymouth(H) | D2 |
| Dep | 04/06/52 (34) | Peterborough | |
| A/G | 144 |
Jack Fairbrother is one of the all time United greats. He was a magnificent servant for five years, playing almost 150 times, and was one of the mainstays of the promotion team and the 1951 Cup winning side.
As a result of the War, "Smiler" Jack did not make his League debut until he was almost thirty. He gained his early reputation with First Division Preston North End, playing for them at Wembley in a wartime Cup Final against Arsenal In 1947.
He joined United at the end of the 1946/47 season for £6,500 which was a record fee for a goalkeeper at that time.
Jack was a student of his job with his own ideas about how to keep goal. He concentrated more on positioning rather than diving and devised a unique training method whereby he would tie a rope to the goalpost and give Jackie Milburn the other end. Then when Milburn shot the rope would indicate exactly where Fairbrother should stand.
Jack also had excellent goal-line reflexes and was spectacular enough to make him popular with the fans. He used to have little wagers with the forwards that, from a certain distance out, they couldn’t beat him. Invariably he won the bet.
He was among the safest keepers in the game and Milburn once said: "Jack was the only keeper I've known who I always felt would save any shot". If he had a weakness, it was vulnerability to a cross ball.
A confident extrovert, both clean-cut and stylish, Jack was one of football’s characters. And he kept a little black book in which he entered all the strong and weak points of sharpshooters he would have to face.
Fairbrother was part of the 1951 Cup winning side, playing in every match in the Cup run. Jack broke a bone in his wrist in the Fourth Round and although he didn’t miss a match, it prompted United to sign another goalkeeper, Ronnie Simpson.
Soon after a journalist told Jack that Simpson was going to replace him from the following season. Furious and upset he packed his bags and Joe Harvey had to make a dash to Central Station to persuade him to stay.
One of his idiosyncrasies was that he always took to the field armed with several pairs of gloves. Jack served as a wartime policeman and he used to get his gloves from Market St. Police station. And he gave his his "lucky" pair of white gloves, that he wore to Wembley, to Ronnie Simpson.
For the 1951 Cup Final the FA wanted the teams to look “elegant and in keeping with the occasion” and they made a sartorial request for both keepers to leave their cloth caps at home.
They suggested that they donned a peaked sports cap like those that baseball players wore. Fairbrother was not happy as he believed it would restrict his vision and when he faced the sun in the second-half at Wembley he donned his cloth cap as usual.
In June 1951 a new resident show, by E. J. Hinge, was produced at the Grand, Newcastle called The Merry Magpies. A celebrity was to be featured each week, with Jack Fairbrother being the first week's attraction.
In the summer of 1962 Jack was appointed player-manager of Peterborough.
Jack had a shaky start and then got injured. Even when he was fit again he was kept out by Garbutt’s excellent form and he handed in a transfer request in October. He changed his mind the next day saying "It was a friendly do. I don't like making trouble for anyone, so I withdrew my letter". He regained his place when Garbutt was injured, but never really performed consistently at his best and a hand injury also ruled him out for a while. Touched his best form towards the end of the season when he regained his place following Garbutt's injury.
United were prepared to swop Jack for Tommy Langton at the start of the season, but the deal fell through and Jack was glad to stay. He only missed one game and was in superb form during the campaign, particularly in an exceptional performance in the away match with Manchester United.
Jack was in excellent form throughout the season, often giving man-of-the-match displays. Injured in the 6-3 defeat at Charlton in September, he was out of the side for a while and even when he returned he was kept out by Garbutt. Garbutt was then injured himself and Jack returned only to dislocate his shoulder in the home win over Liverpool. England B February?
Fairbrother maintained his high standards, played in nearly every game and was part of the 1951 Cup winning side.
Both Simpson and Fairbrother were injured at the start of the 1951/52 season, but Jack returned first and he was back to his best in the second game at Old Trafford. But nine minutes into the second-half he suffered a fractured collarbone after an accidental collision with Bobby Cowell. In his absence Simpson became a crowd favourite with his clever and daring keeping. Jack played his first return game for the reserves at the end of November. But within weeks he broke his left thumb. He returned to training in January only to suffer an ankle injury a month later.
Painting by Piotr Jozefowicz - if you would like a copy of this painting or a copy of the painting of any other player, past or present, please contact Piotr directly at: 008bond@wp.pl