James Fairley Cameron (born 7 December 1946) is a Scottish former professional

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 as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. He made over 200 appearances for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

, and also played for

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

and Montrose.

Playing career

Jim Cameron joined

in October 1966 from Ashfield, having turned down contract offers from

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

and

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

,Gracie, p.306 and was one of three players from the Glasgow-based

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

club signed by United manager

Jerry Kerr John 'Jerry' Kerr (1 June 1912 – 8 November 1999) was a Scottish football player and manager, best known as manager of Dundee United from 1959 to 1971. He is credited with taking the club from third bottom of the Scottish League to being an ...

around that time. After performing well in the reserve team, he made his first team debut in the

in April 1967, in a 2–2 draw against

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. ...

Tannadice Park Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in ...

. The following month Dundee United travelled to the United States, to represent the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

franchise in the new

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

(USA) league. With regular

Jimmy Briggs James Briggs (8 April 1937 – 9 April 2011) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a full back. Briggs played the majority of his career with Dundee United, making nearly 400 appearances and captaining the side when they defea ...

initially left out due to a contract dispute, Cameron was included in the squad and featured regularly on the tour, playing in ten of the twelve USA matches. Returning to Scotland, Cameron began the 1967–68 season in the reserves until Briggs suffered a broken leg in February 1968. This gave Cameron his opportunity in the first team, and he rarely missed a match over the next four years. In December 1971,

Jim McLean James Yuille McLean (2 August 1937 – 26 December 2020) was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winni ...

replaced Kerr as Dundee United manager and made a new left back,

Frank Kopel Frank Kopel (28 March 1949 – 16 April 2014) was a Scottish footballer who played as a left back. Born in Falkirk, he had an 18-year professional football career, during which he played for Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Dundee United ...

, his first signing. By the beginning of the 1972–73 season, Kopel had replaced Cameron as first choice in the position. Cameron was transfer listed in October 1972 but didn't leave the club until September 1973 when he was transferred to

for a £7000 fee. He made a total of 208 competitive appearances for Dundee United, scoring his only goal in a 3–2 win over

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

on Christmas Day 1971. Cameron went on to play over 100 games for Falkirk, and also had spells with Montrose and

before emigrating to Australia in 1981.

Notes

References

;Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Jim Association football fullbacks 1946 births Scottish footballers Ashfield F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish emigrants to Australia Dallas Tornado players United Soccer Association players Living people