James Cannon (born 2 October 1953)
is a Scottish retired
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 ...
.
Along with several other promising young Scottish players he was signed as an apprentice for
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
in October 1970, by then manager
Bert Head, having previously had a trial with
Manchester City.
He made a goalscoring debut on 31 March 1973 against
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and went on to make 660 appearances for the club, beating
Terry Long's record in the
1984–85 season.
A cultured centre half who could also play at left back or in midfield, he eventually left the club at the end of the
1987–88 season (15 seasons after his debut), having been captain for the previous ten seasons, and initially joined
Croydon F.C.
Croydon Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Croydon, London. Until 2006, they played in the Isthmian League, but lost their place in that league as part of the 2006 re-structuring of non-league football, and n ...
and then in November 1988,
Dartford.
He also had a short spell with
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...
before finishing his football career in 1994 after three seasons at
Dulwich Hamlet
Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill.
History
The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...
. In retirement he owned a building company ''ICS Builders'' in the
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
area, and managed
Chipstead during the 2003–04 season.
At the start of
2005–06 season onwards, he made a return to Palace, in the hospitality department, hosting the executive boxes at
Selhurst Park on matchdays. In 2005, Cannon was voted into Palace's
Centenary XI, and was only just pipped to "The Player of The Century" award by
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport.
Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...
. Wright would later claim that Cannon had bullied him and
Kung fu
Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...
kicked him in the back, Cannon disputed that account but admitted to giving Wright “a little slap”.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Jim
1953 births
Scottish men's footballers
Living people
Crystal Palace F.C. players
Bristol Rovers F.C. players
Croydon F.C. players
Dartford F.C. players
Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players
Men's association football central defenders
Footballers from Glasgow
English Football League players
English football managers
Chipstead F.C. managers