James Love (17 March 1858 – 27 September 1882) 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 le ...

who is acknowledged as one of the first professional football players in England, having played for

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

in the late 1870s. He was a native of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and played for

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to t ...

before moving to England to play for Darwen. He died in 1882 whilst serving for the British military in Egypt.

Early life

Love was born in Gushetfaulds Cottage in Glasgow in 1858. He set himself up as a street-cleaning contractor in

but got into financial difficulties and in October 1878, his two horses and his equipment, including a street-sweeping machine, were sold off at a public warrant sale. Shortly afterwards he was summoned to the Glasgow bankruptcy court but he failed to show up and the court postponed the case for a month. On 21 November 1878, he again failed to appear and the local Sheriff issued a warrant for his arrest. It was never served as he had left Scotland and moved to

Football

Whilst working, Love initially played for Partick (not the same club as the modern

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

) and had already visited

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

with Partick in the 1878 New Year. In summer 1878 he joined Lancashire club

, arriving before fellow Partick player

Fergus Suter Fergus Suter (21 November 1857 – 31 July 1916) was a Scottish stonemason and footballer in the early days of the game. Arguably the first recognised professional footballer, Suter was a native of Glasgow and played for Partick before moving to ...

. He scored twice against

Eagley Eagley is a village of the unparished area of South Turton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies on southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Eagley Brook passes through t ...

in the

1878–79 FA Cup The 1878–79 Football Association Challenge Cup was the eighth staging of the FA Cup, England's oldest football tournament. Forty-three teams entered, although six of the forty-three never played a match. First round Replays Second round R ...

second round and scored two more in the third round victory over

Remnants Remnant or remnants may refer to: Religion * Remnant (Bible), a recurring theme in the Bible * Remnant (Seventh-day Adventist belief), the remnant theme in the Seventh-day Adventist Church * ''The Remnant'' (newspaper), a traditional Catholic ne ...

the Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, and was in top form when Darwen faced

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 ...

in the famous 5–5 draw on 13 February 1879 where he scored twice a second half comeback from a 5–1 deficit. He was an integral part of the team that season, with the club playing a benefit match for Love and Suter in April 1879. Early the next season he played three times for Darwen, but after the defeat of Haslingden in the Lancashire Cup on 25 October, he disappeared from the team. The following month he played in a friendly for local rivals

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. The only other noted appearance was in what is thought to be his final football match, on 10 January 1880 for village side in

Haslingden Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town (including Helmshore) had a population of 15,96 ...

Army career

In February 1880 he signed up for the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

in Liverpool. By 1881 he was a corporal. In 1882 the Marines were called into action and Love was posted to Egypt during the occupation of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

which followed the

Anglo-Egyptian War The British conquest of Egypt (1882), also known as Anglo-Egyptian War (), occurred in 1882 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha. It ...

. Whilst in Egypt he fell ill with

enteric fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

and died in the military hospital in Ismailia. He is commemorated on the memorial in Tel-el-Kebir cemetery. His family were in 1883 sent a campaign medal recognising his service. He is also commemorated on a Royal Marine memorial in

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the s ...

Portrayals

Love is one of the characters in the Netflix mini-series ''

The English Game ''The English Game'' is a British historical sports drama television miniseries developed by Julian Fellowes for Netflix about the origins of modern association football in England. The six-part series was released on 20 March 2020. Premise In ...

'' (2020), played by James Harkness.

References

;General * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Jimmy Scottish men's footballers Darwen F.C. players 1858 births 1882 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Men's association football forwards Partick F.C. (1875) players Deaths in Egypt Deaths from typhoid fever 19th-century Royal Marines personnel Military personnel from Glasgow