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Players Index Page Last Updated
11 February 2023
 
'..that feather-weight of international fame...who was a swift dribbler and most artful dodger.' - J A H Catton
 

Teddy Leighton

Nottingham Forest FC & Corinthians FC

 1 appearance, 0 goals

P 1 W 1 D 0 L 0 F 6: A 1
100% successful
1886

captain: none
minutes played: 90

Timeline
  John Edward Leighton
Birth Sunday, 26 March 1865 in St. Mary's, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
  registered in Nottingham April-June 1865.
 

According to the 1871 census, John Edward is the middle of three sons to John Edward and Amelia Sarah (née Gosling) (m.16 September 1862). They live at 219 Woodborough Road in the St Mary's area of Nottingham. They have one servant. His father is a stationary wholesaler.
 

According to the 1881 census, John is living with his elder brother, Chas Ed., both with their aunty Marianne Leighton, also a stationer, at Chestnut Grove in St Mary's. She has one servant. John is stated as having 'no occupation'.
 

(His father died on 27 January 1889)
According to the 1891 census, John E., now a stationer himself, is living back with his widowed mother and his younger brother at Rose Mount in St Mary's. Still with one servant.
Marriage to Edith Maud Miller, on 14 June 1894 at St. Andrew's Church, Chestnut Grove, Nottingham.
  registered in Nottingham April-June 1894.
"LEIGHTON―MILLER.―On the 14th inst., at St. Andrew's Church, by the Rev. C. E. Leighton, brother of the bridegroom, assisted by the Rev. Frank Woods, M.A., John Edward, second son of the late Mr. John Edward Leighton, Rosemount, Bleinham-road, Nottingham, to Edith Maud, youngest daughter of Mr. John Miller, Forest-grove, Nottingham." - Nottinghamshire Guardian, Saturday, 23 June 1894.
Children Teddy and Edith Leighton had one son together. John Herbert Leslie (b.1895)
 

According to the 1901 census, John E. is married to Edith M. and they have one son, John, and one servant. They live back at 6 Chestnut Grove. John is a paper merchant.
 

According to the 1911 census, John Edward is still married and still with one son, are residing with his wife's widowed mother at 7 Hardy Street in Nottingham. With one servant. John remains a paper merchant
In the 1916 GWR Shareholders List, John Edward is one of three executor's of the will for his mother, who had died on 4 May 1916. John was still living at 6 Chestnut Grove.
 

According to the 1921 census, John Edward is still married and still with one son, who is now also married to Alice, living at 6 Chestnut Grove in Nottingham. John remains a paper merchant
He was also one of two executor's of his eldest brothers will, Reverend Charles Edward died on 19 April 1923. No address stated, but his brother died at a Mental Hospital in Stotfold.

  (His son, John Herbert Leslie Leighton died on 10 December 1938)
According to the 1939 register, John E. is married to Edith, he is a paper merchant living at 6 Chestnut Grove.
(His wife, Edith Leighton died on 30 October 1943)
Death Saturday, 15 April 1944 at The City Ground, Pavilion Road, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.
  aged 79 years 20 days registered in Nottingham April-June 1944.

Obituary
"A FOREST VETERAN―J.E. Leighton Dies During Cup-Tie
"While watching the Nottingham Forest and Northampton Cup-tie, at the City Ground, on Saturday, Mr. J. E. ('Teddy') Leighton, the old Forest winger and English international, had a seizure, which unfortunately proved fatal. Mr. Leighton, who was 79, resided with his daughter-in-law at 6, Chestnut-grove, Nottingham, and was the head of the business of John Leighton stationers, Lincoln-street, which was established by his father, and to which he succeeded together with his brother. His only son died some years ago and his wife passed away about a year back. A grandson who had joined him in business is now serving in the R.A.F.
"Mr. Leighton was a member of the Forest side in the mid-eighties when the struggle for professionalism was in full blast, a struggle that Forest originally declined to countenance. Meanwhile, J. E. Leighton, a stripling of 17 when he first turned out for Forest, was making his mark, at outside-left, and it was as a winger that he gained his cap in 1886 against Ireland." - The Nottingham Evening Post, Monday, 17 April 1944.
Probate "LEIGHTON John Edward of 6 Chestnut-grove Mapperley-road Nottingham died 15 April 1944 at Forest Football Ground Nottingham Probate Nottingham 6 June to Arthur James Jackson accountants managing clerk and Francis Henry Willatt yarn and silk agent.
 Effects £18246 15s. 10d." [2019 equivalent: £815,203].
  "FORMER FOREST PLAYER―£18,246.
"Mr. John Edward Leighton, of 6, Chesnut-grove, Mapperley-road, Nottingham, paper merchant, former Forest and England footballer, who collapsed and died at Forest football ground during a football match on 15 April last, aged 79, has left £18,246 (net personalty £8,145). He left £1,000 to his daughter-in-law Alice Leighton; £100 each to Walter Bee and Olive Hopkins, managers; £100 each to the executors, Arthur J. Jackson and Francis H. Willatt; £200 each to his nieces Ruth, Barbara, Enid, Joan and Janet Leighton, and the residue to his grandson, John R. A. Leighton." - Nottingham Journal, Monday, 11 September 1944. [2019 equivalent=£816,833].

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] &

Playing Career
Club(s) Played schoolboy and junior football in Nottingham before joining Nottingham Forest FC in 1884, remained until 1888.
Corinthians 1885-89
Club honours None
Height/Weight not known

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].

England Career
Player number One of eight who became the 125th player (129) to appear for England.
Position(s) Outside-right
Only match No. 26, 13 March 1886, Ireland 1 England 6, a British Championship match at Ulster Cricket Ground, Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast, aged 20 years 352 days.
Major tournaments British Championship 1885-86;
Team honours British Championship shared 1885-86;
Individual honours The North (one appearance, January 1886);

Beyond England
Leighton was a wholesale stationer and paper merchant with premises at Clinton Street, Nottingham.  He continued to follow Forest until his dying day. He died watching Forest play Northampton Town FC. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.156.


The Numbers
parties Appearances comp. apps minutes captain
1 1 1 90 0 none
The minutes here given can only ever be a guideline and cannot therefore be accurate, only an approximation.
P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
1 1 0 0 6 1 +5 0 0 6 1 100 +1
His only match was played in the British Championship competition and at an away venue

Tournament Record

British Championship Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1885-86 1 1 0 0 6 1 +5 0 0 6.00 1.00 100.0 +1
BC All 1 1 0 0 6 1 +5 0 0 6.00 1.00 100.0 +1

All Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1 1 0 0 6 1 +5 0 0 6.00 1.00 100.0 +1
1 1 0 0 6 1 +5 0 0 6 1 100 +1

Match History

 Clubs: Nottingham Forest F.C. & Corinthians F.C. - one full appearance (90 min) F.A. Committee - one full appearance (90 min)x

Age 20 trial  
one appearance - The South vs. The North, 30 January 1886;

apps match match details comp res. rundown pos

1 26 13 March 1886 - Ireland 1 England 6
Ulster Cricket Ground, Belfast		 BC AW   or
  

one of eight who became the 125th player (129) to appear for England
one of two who became the sixth player from Nottingham Forest FC to represent England
one of seven who became the sixteenth Corinthian to represent England

     

 
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