March 1937 opened with a 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United, Connor once again on target, albeit it would be his only goal that month, as the Pilgrims suffered a blip in what had been an impressive season to date, with three draws and two defeats from their six matches. They would get back on track in mid-April, after another couple of draws, Jack hitting the second in a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at Home Park. The campaign would end on a bit of a low, with defeats by the Lancashire duo of Bury and Burnley, and Connor missing the final game at home to the Clarets. Nevertheless, it had been a fine start to his career down south, with 17 goals from just 34 starts, a goal every two games, enough for him to top the goalscoring charts at the club in his first season there.
Plymouth Argyle finished in fifth place in the second tier of English football in 1936/37, their highest-ever placing until that point. Indeed, only once since then have they improved on that, reaching fourth in 1952/53. They would finish level on points with both Newcastle United and West Ham United, splitting the pair on goal average, and behind Bury, promoted Blackpool and champions Leicester City, whilst Bradford City and Doncaster Rovers would drop into the Third Division (North), as it was back then. Argyle would be joined in the Second Division the following season by relegated Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday, whilst the Old Trafford faithful’s misery would be complete by the sight of fierce rivals City claiming their first English title on the other side of Manchester.
The FA Cup was won by a Sunderland side featuring most of the players who would become English champions the following season before being beaten by Celtic in the first tie of the Empire Exhibition Cup at Ibrox. They defeated a Preston North End side at Wembley which included Bill Shankly and three former Celtic teammates of Jack Connor, Willie Fagan and the O’Donnell brothers. Frank O’Donnell had opened the scoring just before the break before three second-half goals took the trophy to Wearside.
Jack’s second season on England’s south-west coast would not go quite so well. He would miss the opening three games of the campaign before appearing against Blackburn Rovers at Home Park on Wednesday, 8 September, true to form Connor scoring Argyle’s first goal in a 2-2 draw. And he would grab the second for Plymouth as four goals were shared with Swansea Town at the same venue ten days later. This would prove to be his final goal for the club, Jack losing his place up front after successive defeats by Norwich City, Aston Villa and Bradford Park Avenue saw the Pilgrims still seeking a first League win since the opening day of the campaign. They would finally get that elusive second victory at the thirteenth time of asking, beating Sheffield United on Saturday, 30 October 1937.
Jack would still be missing as Argyle visited Old Trafford in early November, the match ending goalless, and competition would soon arrive in the shape of Everton centre-forward, Bill Hullett. The youngster would grab his chance with 20 goals in 29 games before signing for Manchester United one year later. Connor would not feature again until the return fixture with Norwich City, on Saturday, 5 February 1938, which ended 1-1. This would be the final appearance for Plymouth for Jim Foley. He had been convicted in Edinburgh four days previously, and decided to return to his native Cork, where he would later enjoy league and cup success in the FAI Cup with Cork United. Jim died in October 1952, just 38.
Argyle’s Scottish manager Bob Jack would retire from the club in April 1938, after 28 years and more than 1,000 games in charge at Home Park. His son, David, had also played briefly under him at Argyle, but is better known as the man involved in the first £10,000 transfer, when he moved from Bolton Wanderers to Arsenal in 1928. Five years earlier, David had become the first player to score at Wembley, netting Bolton’s opener in their 2-0 victory over West Ham United in the famous ‘white horse’ FA Cup final. Bob would carry out some scouting work post-retirement for his famous son, now the manager at his father’s local club, Southend United. He would pass away five years later, aged 67.
Jack Connor would soon follow Jim Foley and his manager Bob Jack out of Home Park. He had retained his place after the draw with Norwich for the 1-0 victory over Bradford Park Avenue then the midweek visit to Villa Park, where Plymouth lost 3-0, however, that night in Birmingham would turn out to be Connor’s last game for the club. After 44 games and 19 goals, he would leave Devon for Wales, joining Swansea Town, against whom he had scored his last goal, after a rather disappointing second season.
