James Hermiston (born 30 September 1947 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

) is a former professional footballer and police officer. He played for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in Scotland and a number of clubs in Australia – he most notably won the 1970

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, and was inducted into the Aberdeen FC "Hall of Fame" as one of the founding members in 2003. He also served with the police forces in the north of Scotland and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Football career

Hermiston began his career as a teenager with Bonnyrigg Rose, and was signed for Aberdeen by

Eddie Turnbull Edward Hunter Turnbull (12 April 1923 – 30 April 2011) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He played as a forward for Hibernian and Scotland, forming part of the Hibs " Famous Five" forward line. He then had successful sp ...

in 1965. He made his debut for Aberdeen the following year, and went on to play 270 times for the club in all competitions. He was a member of the

1969–70 Scottish Cup The 1969–70 Scottish Cup was in the 85th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Aberdeen who defeated Celtic in the final. First preliminary round Second preliminary round Repla ...

winning team, and was captain of the side toward the end of his time there. Hermiston played one game for the Scottish League representative side, a 5–0 defeat by the English League team at Maine Road, Manchester on 20 March 1974., but was overlooked for the Scotland squad for the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

. This led him to seek a move to England. However, a proposed transfer to Chelsea failed to materialise, and Hermiston decided to retire from the game at the age of 27 to join

Grampian Police Grampian Police was, between 1975 and 2013 (replaced by Police Scotland), the territorial police force of the northeast region of Scotland, covering the council areas of Aberdeenshire, the City of Aberdeen, and Moray (the former Grampian region) ...

as a Police Constable. It is possible that as a PC, his duties may have included policing matches at Aberdeen's ground,

Pittodrie Stadium Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they were ...

, but it is not clear whether he ever actually did so. Hermiston and his family emigrated to Australia shortly afterwards, and he resumed his football career there, playing for

Grange Thistle Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to a monastery Geography Australia * Grange, South Austr ...

, then Brisbane City and Brisbane Lions before returning to police work after a brief spell as manager of Brisbane City. Hermiston was a popular player in Australia, to the extent of having a children's coaching manual published under his name. He was twice in Philips Cup winning teams, and was even considered as a potential captain of the Australian team. However, this did not come to pass thanks to Hermiston having played part of a game for the Scottish Under-23 side in the early 1970s – the international rules at the time forbidding a player who had represented one country at any level from representing another. In October 1980 Hermiston was voted by the Australian Soccer Press Association player of the year and was handed the award by the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.

Police career

After emigrating to Australia, Hermiston joined the Queensland Police, and served with that force until his retirement in 2003. In 1999, he was presented with a bravery award after intervening in a bank robbery while off duty.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermiston, Jim 1947 births Living people Scottish footballers Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players National Soccer League (Australia) players Australian police officers Scottish police officers Brisbane City FC players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scotland youth international footballers Footballers from Edinburgh Scotland under-23 international footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders category:Officers in Scottish police forces