Alex James (footballer)

Alex James
Personal information
Full name Alexander Wilson James
Date of birth (1901-09-14)14 September 1901
Place of birth Mossend, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Date of death 1 June 1953(1953-06-01) (aged 51)
Place of death London, England
Playing position Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1922–1925 Raith Rovers 98 (27)
1925–1929 Preston North End 147 (53)
1929–1937 Arsenal 231 (26)
Total 476 (106)
National team
1925–1932 Scotland[1] 8 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Alexander Wilson "Alex" James (14 September 1901 – 1 June 1953) was a Scottish footballer who is most noted for his success with Arsenal. James played as an inside forward, as a supporting player for the main strikers. He was famed for his outstanding footballing intelligence and supreme ball control and passing. This has led many modern-day comparisons with Arsenal forward Dennis Bergkamp. His rheumatism meant he wore "baggy" shorts to hide the long johns he wore to keep warm; the baggy appearance became his trademark.

Early years

Born in Mossend, Lanarkshire and schooled at Bellshill Academy where began a long friendship with Hughie Gallacher.[2][3] James started his career with local youth clubs.

Club career

Raith Rovers

Alex James joined Raith Rovers in 1922. He spent three seasons at Starks Park recording nearly a hundred League appearances. His best league finish was fourth in 1924 sandwiched between the ninth place finishes on either side. He then transferred to Preston North End for £3,000 in 1925.

Preston North End

Alex James spent four years at the Second Division side scoring 55 goals in 157 appearances. Preston twice were in contention for promotion finishing sixth then fourth in the middle two of James' four seasons there. However towards the end of his stay there he fell into several disputes with the club's management, partly over wages – at the time, the Football League operated a maximum wage of £8 a week – and also because Preston refused to release James for international duty with Scotland.

Arsenal

Alex James (right) and Harry Hooper of Sheffield United at the start of the 1936 FA Cup Final

Alex James left Preston for Herbert Chapman's Arsenal in 1929 for £8,750, making his debut against Leeds United on 31 August 1929 two weeks before his 28th birthday. In order to circumvent the maximum wage rules, Arsenal arranged it so that his employment at the club was supplemented by a £250-a-year "sports demonstrator" job at Selfridges, the London department store. James had an unremarkable first season at Arsenal partly due to the recovery from injuries he had accrued at Preston. However his first season at Arsenal brought the first of six trophies in seven seasons there. He played in Arsenal's 1930 FA Cup Final win against Huddersfield Town scoring the first in a 2-0 win to give Arsenal their first major trophy.

Over time he settled into his role and became part of the dominant side of English football in 1930s. Playing so deep as a supporting player, he scored relatively few goals for Arsenal – only 27 in 261 appearances – but created many times that number. James's passing and vision supplied the ammunition that David Jack, Cliff Bastin, Ted Drake and Jack Lambert all put into the net. James orchestrated Arsenal to their first ever First Division Championship win in 1930–31.

The defending champions started the 1931–32 season badly largely through missing goals from injured Jack Lambert. However as Lambert returned to goalscoring form Arsenal enjoyed a good run to regain ground on leaders Everton. After their FA Cup semi final win they harboured hopes of a league and cup double. They were now only three points behind Everton with a game in hand. However only two minutes into the next game at West Ham United, James suffered serious ligament damage. He missed the rest of the league season and without their play maker Arsenal won only one more league game. Arsenal finished second to Everton. They also ran up in the 1932 FA Cup Final against Newcastle United. James had been passed fit before injuring himself in a pre-match photo call for the press. Without him, Arsenal lost 2-1, albeit thanks to a highly controversial goal from Newcastle's Jack Allen.

He recovered to help Arsenal to a second title in 1932-33. Arsenal scored a club record 118 goals in the League that season.

Another spate of injuries marred James's 1933-34 season. Arsenal retained their title but scoring far fewer (75) goals in the process.

With James recovered they won a fourth championship, and their third in a row in 1934–35 in style. Ted Drake scored 42 league goals that season with many of them supplied by James.

In 1935-36 he won his last trophy, a second FA Cup winners' medal. James captained Arsenal to their 1-0 win over Sheffield United. With age and injuries taking their toll in the last two seasons of his career, Alex James retired from playing in the summer of 1937.

International career

Despite his form for his clubs, he won just eight caps for Scotland.[1] This was partly due to Preston's reluctance to release him for international matches. He made his international debut on 31 October 1925 against Wales which Scotland won 3-0. His short international career included an appearance for the legendary "Wembley Wizards" team that thrashed England 5-1 at Wembley in 1928, with James scoring twice. The Wembley Wizards game is one of six where James and Hughie Gallacher were both selected to play – Scotland won all six.[2] All four of James' international goals came while playing alongside Gallacher.[2]

Later years

In the summer of 1939, James went to Poland, invited by the Polish Football Association (PZPN). He spent there 6 weeks (30 June – 11 August 1939) helping the Polish coach Józef Kałuża and members of the national team. He taught them modern tactics and also led several training sessions. James also played in one or two friendly games of Warsaw's teams.[4]

During World War II he served in the Royal Artillery. After the war he became a journalist as well as running a football pools competition.

In 1949 he was invited back to Arsenal to coach the club's youth sides. However he died quite suddenly from cancer in 1953 at the age of 51. [5] He was survived by his wife and three children.

James was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game.

In popular culture

He is mentioned in the 1930s song "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm" by Stanley Holloway.

Honours

Arsenal:-

English First Division:-

Champions - 1931, 1933, 1934, 1935

Runner up - 1932


FA Cup:-

Winner - 1930, 1936

Runner up - 1932

References

  1. 1 2 Alex James at scottishfa.co.uk
  2. 1 2 3 Hughie Gallacher career profile on www.qosfc.com
  3. ↑ 'The Queens 1919–2004',Iain McCartney on Creedon Publications
  4. ↑ A page of Polish Sports daily "Przeglad Sportowy" from Thursday, 15 June 1939 describing James' schedule in Poland
  5. ↑ Alex James biogrpahy on Spartacus International
General

Alex James- Life of a football Legend by John Harding available from DB Publishing

External links

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