James Costley (Liverpool Q1 1862 – Q1 1931 in Blackburn) was an English

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 le ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Everton. James Costley, although from Merseyside, signed for

Blackburn Olympic Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

in 1879. Blackburn Olympic never played League Football and majored on the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Their two successful seasons (and Costley was involved) were 1882–83 and 1883–84. In 1882–83 Blackburn Olympic reached the Final. The date was 31 March 1883 and the venue was Kennington Oval. Blackburn Olympic played the FA Cup holders,

Old Etonians Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and beat them 2–1, Costley scoring Olympic's second and winning goal. Costley played as an inside forward. The following season, 1883–84, Olympic, as holders, took the defence of the Cup to the semi–final. The match was played at Trent Bridge on 1 March 1884 against Queen's Park (Glasgow). Olympic were hoping to win and play their local rivals, Blackburn Rovers who played in, and won, the other semi–final. However, Olympic were outclassed by their Scottish opponents and lost 4–0. Costley was signed by Everton from Blackburn Olympic in 1886 and was described as a skilful winger and superb dribbler. He did very well in his first two seasons scoring 22 goals from 59 appearances. However, once League football arrived at Anfield he could no longer hold a regular place in the team. Costley made his League debut, playing as a winger at County Ground on 20 October 1888, the then home of Derby County. The visitors won 4–2 and Costley, on his League debut scored both Everton's opening goals to put his team 2–0 ahead before half–time. Costley appeared in six of the 22 league matches played by Everton in the 1888–89 season and scored three goals. Costley was released by Everton in May 1889. He died during the first quarter of 1931 in Blackburn aged 68/69.

References

1862 births 1931 deaths English footballers Everton F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards FA Cup Final players {{England-footy-forward-1860s-stub