James Morton "Bud" Maxwell (15 January 1913 – 22 April 1990) was a Scottish
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, at which time his son was four years old. 'Bud' became known for his skills at school and was selected for Scotland at that level, thereafter becoming an apprentice at hometown club Kilmarnock, also working at a shoe manufacturer.
Maxwell quickly emerged as a prolific goalscorer (displacing Peerie Cunningham whose record was also strong) and becoming Kilmarnock's second highest goalscorer of their history in just four seasons, with 103 goals in 126 League games plus 19 goals in 21
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1932 Scottish Cup Final
The 1931–32 Scottish Cup was the 54th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers who defeated Kilmarnock in the replayed final.Rangers. The first game was drawn, with Maxwell scoring the only goal for ''Killie''. He also played in the replay, which Kilmarnock lost.Rangers Win The Cup Kilmarnock Well Beaten The Glasgow Herald, 21 April 1932
Maxwell signed for Preston North End in 1934 and maintained an impressive strike rate, scoring 60 goals in 129 league matches and finishing top goalscorer in 1934–35 with 26 goals, and 1935–36 with 19. He also played in the victorious Preston team at the
1938 FA Cup Final
The 1938 FA Cup Final was contested by Preston North End and Huddersfield Town at Wembley Stadium. Preston, losing finalists the previous year, won by a single goal. This was their second win in the competition.
Background
After 29 minutes of ex ...
.
However, he suffered increasingly from knee injuries and was sold to Barnsley in 1939 just before the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, returning to Kilmarnock in unofficial competitions where he scored his 124th goal on his final appearance for the club on 16 March 1940.
He served with the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
throughout the war, mainly in the North Atlantic on submarine hunting/convoy escort duty. He played as a guest for
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...
in the wartime Scottish Southern League a number of times while on leave from the navy.
After the war, he trained with Preston but his registration was still held by Barnsley, who would not allow him to sign for a divisional rival; instead he joined
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
of the
Midland League
The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid.
History
T ...
for a short spell lasting until the end of 1946.
International career
While at Kilmarnock, Maxwell was selected once for the
Scottish Football League XI
The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...
in September 1933. The SFL lost 3–0 to the
Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland.
The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 ...
in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, and of the 11 picked by the Scots (seven of whom were making their debuts), only one was selected again.Sat 30 Sep 1933 Irish League 3 SFL 0 London Hearts Supporters Club He was on a reserve list for a
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
fixture a few months later, but never made a full international appearance. His father had also played for the SFL XI on a single occasion (1907).