John George Peart (3 October 1888 – 3 September 1948) was an English footballer who played centre forward for 13 different teams in a career which spanned World War I.
[3] He spent two years at the Victoria Ground and made an impressive contribution, scoring 34 goals in 23 matches in 1910–11, his run being ended by a broken leg against Crewe Alexandra on 10 December 1910.
[4] Peart made 17 competitive appearances for the "Magpies", all in the Football League, comprising nine in 1911–12 and eight in 1912–13, and scored three goals in each of those seasons.
His first appearance for the club came at St James' Park on 16 March 1912 against Middlesbrough, and he scored his first goal the following week against Notts County.
He hit 28 league goals in 1913–14 to fire the club to promotion as divisional champions – he was also the division's joint top-scorer, with Sammy Stevens.
During World War I he served as a corporal in the Army and also guested for Rochdale, Leeds United, Stoke and Barnsley.
[6] After a time with Leeds City, he played three Second Division games for Birmingham in the 1919–20 season, before moving on to Derby County in January 1920.
[1] Injury limited his contribution to the Vale's 1921–22 campaign to just seven appearances and he was released from his contract at The Old Recreation Ground in the summer.
He took the "Dale" to a second-place finish in the Third Division North in 1923–24; they were one point behind champions Wolverhampton Wanderers, but only Wolves were promoted.
He remained in charge at Craven Cottage throughout World War II, and led the club to two further mid-table finishes in 1946–47 and 1947–48.