James Archibald Platt (born 26 January 1952) is a former
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 ...
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 ...
for
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
Playing career
During his career, Platt won 23 caps for Northern Ireland, an amount largely restricted due to the presence of
Pat Jennings
Patrick Anthony Jennings (born 12 June 1945) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 119 international matches for Northern Ireland in an international career which lasted for over 22 years. D ...
in the side. At club level, Platt played for the majority of his career at
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
, and also played for
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded i ...
,
Cardiff City and
Ballymena United
Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the ...
. He conceded a hat trick in a junior match in Northern Ireland, when Kenny McKillop scored 3 goals from outside the box against him.
Platt was also in the Irish team that won the
Home Championship the last time it was played.
Managerial and coaching career
As a manager, Platt's first job was to take charge of Ballymena United for a season from 1984–85, after which he had a longer spell at Coleraine, managing them for six years from 1985 to 1991. In 1991, he had another short spell, this time at Ballyclare, for just one season from 1991–92.
For the 1992–93 season, Platt was given the job of managing Swedish outfit
Assyriska, in the Swedish First Division. He had a two-season spell managing Darlington one partly with
David Hodgson then the other from
1995–96, before leaving full-time management to take a job with
Gateshead.
Previously Middlesbrough's Chief Coach at their Football Community Centre. He ran a private football school for local primary school around the Middlesbrough/Stockton Area.
In May 2009, Platt was appointed as Darlington's goalkeeping coach. However, three months later, Platt left the club following manager
Colin Todd
Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, ...
's sacking.
Family
Platt is the uncle of
Angela Platt
Angela Platt (born 29 May 1979) is a former Ireland women's field hockey international goalkeeper. Between 2000 and 2006 she made 75 senior appearances for Ireland. She represented Ireland at the 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup. She is also a fo ...
, a former goalkeeper with both the
Ireland women's national field hockey team
The Ireland women's national field hockey team is organised by Hockey Ireland and represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in international women's field hockey competitions, including the Women's Hockey World Cup and the Wom ...
and the
Northern Ireland women's national football team. His nephew and Angela's brother, David Platt, is also a former footballer and played as a goalkeeper for
Limavady United
Limavady United Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League. The club comes from Limavady, County Londonderry, and plays home matches at the Showgrounds. Club colours are royal ...
,
Finn Harps
Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...
and
Derry City. He later managed
Coleraine and Limavady United.
In 2019 he was elected to
Middlesbrough Council
Middlesbrough Council, formerly known as Middlesbrough Borough Council, is a unitary authority based in Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. The authority has combined some duties with its nearby councils to form the Tees Valley Combined ...
in Kader ward, representing the Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association. He was re-elected in 2023.
Honours
Middlesbrough Second Division Championship 1973/74
*
Darlington
**
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...
Play-off
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
final runner-up:
1995–96
References
External links
*
Profile at Northern Ireland's footballing greatsJim Platt Collection at the National Football Collection*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, Jim
1952 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Ballymoney
Association footballers from County Antrim
Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland men's international footballers
1982 FIFA World Cup players
1986 FIFA World Cup players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Hartlepool United F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Ballymena United F.C. players
Coleraine F.C. players
Association football managers from Northern Ireland
Coleraine F.C. managers
Ballymena United F.C. managers
Darlington F.C. managers
Gateshead F.C. managers
NIFL Premiership players
Men's association football goalkeepers