James Watton (born 1 November 1936) is an English 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 le ...

who played as a half-back. He made 129 league appearances in a six-year career in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He began his career with English non-league side Bromsgrove Rovers and Dutch club

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

, before joining

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in September 1962. He was allowed to move onto

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

in July 1964. He helped "Donny" to the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

title in 1965–66, before he left the club for non-league side

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

in 1968.

Career

Watton played for Bromsgrove Rovers and Dutch side

, before joining

Norman Low Norman Harvey Low (23 March 1914 – 21 May 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the son of Scottish international footballer, Wilf Low. A central defender, he played for Newcastle United between 1931 and 1933, before a ...

in September 1962. He made his debut in a 1–0 win at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on 10 September 1962, but only made four further Third Division appearances that season. He did not appear under new boss

Freddie Steele Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...

in the 1963–64 season, and left

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

for

in July 1964. Rovers finished ninth in the

in 1964–65 under the stewardship of

Bill Leivers William Ernest Leivers (born 29 January 1932) is an English retired professional footballer and football manager. Playing career Leivers was born in Bolsover, Derbyshire. He attended school at Tupton Hall, alongside Labour MP Dennis Skinner. He ...

, before winning the league in 1965–66 after finishing ahead of

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on goal difference. They could not survive in the league above under new boss Keith Kettleborough however, and were relegated in 1966–67 after finishing nine points short of safety. They finished tenth in the Fourth Division in 1967–68 under the management of

George Raynor George Sidney Raynor (13 January 1907 – 24 November 1985) was an English professional footballer and one of the most successful international football managers ever. One of his greatest achievements was taking the Sweden national football t ...

. Watton then left Belle Vue and later played for Southern League side

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Doncaster Rovers *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

: 1965–66

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watton, Jim 1936 births Living people Footballers from Wolverhampton English footballers Association football wing halves Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands De Graafschap players Port Vale F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players