James William Barrett (19 January 1907 – 25 November 1970) 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 ...

who played for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. Born in

Stratford, London Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Char ...

, Barrett began playing football at the city's Park School, after moving from Abbey School because it lacked a team. He played at Park with Billy "Bubbles" Murray, who is linked with the history of West Ham's anthem "

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" is a popular American song written in 1918, released in late 1919, becoming a number one hit for Ben Selvin's Novelty Orchestra. It has been revived and adapted over the years, serving as the anthem of Premier Leag ...

". He played his first game at Upton Park for West Ham Boys against Liverpool in the English Shield Final of 1920–21. He signed professional forms with the east London club in 1923 at the age of 16, but didn't play his first senior game until 28 March 1925, against Spurs at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

. He was an ever-present during the 1925–26 and 1926–27 seasons, and was also the club's top appearance maker for the

1930–31 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

and 1932–33 seasons. He went on to make a total of 467 appearances for West Ham, scoring 53 goals. Barrett's only international appearance came against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in 1928, where he lasted four minutes before succumbing to injury making his appearance the shortest ever international career. Big Jim's son, James Guy Barrett, also played for West Ham, and he had the opportunity of playing with Jim Jr. while in charge of the A team in 1945–46.

References

*
''West Ham Player List''
retrieved 26 June 2007 * 1907 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Stratford, London English footballers England international footballers West Ham United F.C. players Watford F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players Association football defenders {{England-footy-defender-1900s-stub

See also

References