James Atkinson (1886 – after 1910) was an English 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 ...
who played as an
inside forward
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
or
wing half
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in the
Football League for
Bolton Wanderers.
Life and career
Atkinson was born in 1886 in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
and was playing
Manchester League
The Manchester Football League is a football league in England, affiliated with Manchester FA, covering a 30-mile radius from Manchester Town Hall. It was formed in 1893, although play ceased between 1912 and 1920. Currently it consists of fiv ...
football for
Newton Heath Athletic by the age of 15. He moved on to
Sale Holmefield, had a trial with
Manchester United that came to nothing, then signed for
Bolton Wanderers in March 1905. He scored on his debut in the
First Division a year later, but played only twice more in the league before spending the
1908–09 Southern League season as
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
's regular
left half.
A season with another Southern League club,
Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
, followed, and he then joined
Barrow of the
Lancashire Combination
The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...
.
References
1886 births
Year of death missing
Footballers from Manchester
English footballers
Men's association football inside forwards
Men's association football wing halves
Newton Heath Athletic F.C. players
Sale Holmefield A.F.C. players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
Exeter City F.C. players
Barrow A.F.C. players
English Football League players
Southern Football League players
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