Jack Hacking
English footballer and manager
About Jack Hacking
Lived 1897 – 1955 (aged 57). Jack Hacking was a British association football player and association football coach.
Oldham Athletic After a season at non-league Fleetwood that finished with a win in the Lancashire Combination Cup Final, Hacking signed for Second Division Oldham Athletic together with close friend and Fleetwood teammate Billy Porter. He went on to make 223 appearances for the club over the next eight seasons, during which he proved to be a model of consistency, being rarely absent from the team. One short spell of absence came at Easter 1930 when the club were candidates for promotion back to Division One, which they had left seven years earlier. With Hacking down with flu, they picked up just one point out of three games, losing home and away to Blackpool, who were promoted with Chelsea at the end of the season, with the Oldham club just two points behind. His three England caps in the 1928–29 season, against Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make him Oldham's most-capped England international. Their fate remained in doubt until the last game of the season, when Millwall and Manchester United went head-to-head at The Den with Millwall needing just one point from the game to avoid relegation; Hacking kept a clean sheet and Manchester United won 2–0 to remain in the Second Division. Hacking finished the season having conceded just six goals in his 10 appearances, including five clean sheets. He made a further 22 league appearances for Manchester United in 1934–35, plus another two in the FA Cup, but ultimately lost the number one jersey after conceding six goals in two games at the start of February 1935, and left the club at the end of the season.
Ten years later, Hacking made an unusual last appearance for United, when his son, Jack junior, who was also a goalkeeper, was appearing as a wartime guest player in the 1945–46 season; Jack junior was unfit to play in one game, so at the age of 47, Hacking deputised and became the oldest player to appear in a league match that season.
Accrington Stanley After leaving Manchester United at the end of the 1934–35 season, Hacking took over as player-manager at Third Division Accrington Stanley, but his playing days only lasted until the end of the year. In appreciation for his long service at Oldham Athletic, he chose to play his final league game for Accrington against Oldham at Boundary Park.
He held the role of manager until the end of the season, but went back into management as secretary-manager of Barrow from May 1949 until his death.
International career Hacking's three appearances for England came during the 1928–29 season against Northern Ireland on 22 October 1928 (won 2–1), Wales on 17 November 1928 (won 3–2) and Scotland on 13 April 1929 (lost 1–0). As a result, England finished runners-up in the 1928–29 British Home Championship.
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Important facts
People in Jack Hacking's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Jack Hacking's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Jack Hacking?
English footballer and manager (1897-1955)
When was Jack Hacking born?
Jack Hacking was born on 22 December 1897 in Blackburn.
When did Jack Hacking die?
Jack Hacking died on 31 May 1955 in Accrington.
What was Jack Hacking's occupation?
Jack Hacking was an association football player and association football coach.
What nationality was Jack Hacking?
Jack Hacking was British.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Jack Hacking. https://biography.guide/jack-hacking/
MLA: "Jack Hacking." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/jack-hacking/.
Chicago: "Jack Hacking." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/jack-hacking/.
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