James Fergus Cruickshank (13 April 1941 – 18 November 2010) 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 played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He played for Heart of Midlothian through most of the 1960s and 1970s, making nearly 400 league appearances. He had brief spells with Queen's Park at the start of his career and spent his final season with

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

. Cruickshank also represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wh ...

Life and career

Cruickshank appeared 30 times in league games for the

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

football club Queen's Park between 1958 and 1960. He joined Hearts in 1960 and left the club in 1977 after 17 years of service. He made 528 appearances for the first team and turned out 394 times in league matches. After leaving Hearts He joined

, where he featured in three league matches before retiring from the game. He made nine appearances for the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...

, and was on the losing side only once. Cruickshank made three appearances during a 1967 overseas tour that the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

decided in October 2021 to reclassify as full internationals, which increased his cap tally from six to nine.

Death

Cruickshank died on 18 November 2010, aged 69. Former Hearts players Jim Jefferies and

Craig Gordon Craig Sinclair Gordon (born 31 December 1982) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian, where he is club captain, and the Scottish national team. Gordon started his c ...

paid tribute to Cruickshank, describing him as a "top goalie" and "undoubtedly one of the best" to play for Hearts. On 20 November 2010 Hearts paid tribute to Cruickshank by holding a one-minute silence before their game against

Hamilton Accies Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

. Marian Kello, the then current first choice goalkeeper for Hearts, also tied a yellow goalkeeper's jersey with Cruickshank's name and number on the back to his net. During the game, Kello saved a Hamilton

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

. Hearts manager Jim Jefferies said after the game that "Jim Cruickshank was a great penalty saver. How fitting is it that Marian comes out with the jersey and makes a fantastic save from a penalty on the day we paid our respects to him".

References

External links

Player statistics, Heart of Midlothian FC
at londonhearts.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruickshank, Jim 1941 births Footballers from Glasgow Scotland international footballers Scottish footballers Association football goalkeepers Queen's Park F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Scottish Football League players 2010 deaths Scottish Football League representative players Scotland under-23 international footballers Scotland amateur international footballers