James McLaren (12 July 1897 – 16 November 1975) was a Scottish 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 ...

. He 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 ...

Career

Born in Falkirk,

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling. It borders Perth ...

, McLaren was Scotland's goalkeeper in their first ever schools international match, against England. During his senior career, McLaren played in Scottish football for Bonnybridge Heatherbell and Stenhousemuir, initially in the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

. His last season at Stenhousemuir was 1921–22, the club's first ever season in the Scottish Football League. In May 1922 McLaren transferred to English club

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

. He played for them for five seasons, before spending a further six at fellow Football League club

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 ...

. McLaren joined

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

in October 1933, aged 36. Under the management of Neil McBain and latterly Bill Findlay, he made 194 appearances in the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

, 14 in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and 18 in the Third Division South Cup. Prior to McLaren's arrival, Watford's best finish in the division was sixth place. By contrast, during McLaren's five full seasons at the club, Watford finished fourth three times, fifth once and sixth once. Aged 40, McLaren kept goal as Watford won the 1937 Third Division South Cup. McLaren died in Leicester on 16 November 1975, aged 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mclaren, Jim 1897 births 1975 deaths Footballers from Falkirk Scottish men's footballers Stenhousemuir F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Men's association football goalkeepers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scotland men's youth international footballers