James Hopkins (12 July 1901 – 1943) was a Northern Irish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played at

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Born in

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in ...

, he started out at Belfast United before being signed by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in 1919 at the age of 18. He was a regular for Arsenal's reserve side for two seasons before his first-team debut came, against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

on 19 March 1921; Hopkins scored in a 4–3 victory and went on to play a further seven times that season. Injury and illness marred his 1921–22 season however, and he only played in 11 League games all season. The following season his appearances were even more sporadic, and despite scoring in both his League starts for Arsenal in 1922–23, he was sold to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in January 1923; in total he played 22 games for Arsenal, scoring seven goals. Hopkins spent the next six seasons at Brighton, making over 200 League appearances in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

and scoring 72 goals. He also won a single cap for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 24 October 1925 at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

; the game finished 0–0. He left Brighton in 1929 and ended his career with

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

. He died in 1943.

References

Sources

* 1901 births Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Arsenal F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Sportspeople from Ballymoney 1943 deaths Men's association football inside forwards {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub