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James Blair (11 May 1888 – 28 February 1964) was a Scottish international
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 ...
, probably most well known for playing in the
1925 FA Cup Final The 1925 FA Cup Final was an association football match contested by Sheffield United and Cardiff City on 25 April 1925 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The final was the showpiece match of English football's primary cup competition, the ...
for Cardiff City. His sons, Doug and Jimmy Jr., were also professional footballers.


Career


Club

Blair had played for Scottish
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sides Bonnybridge Thistle and Ashfield before being signed by
Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
in 1908. He helped the club reach two
Scottish Cup Final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...
s, attracting interest from several clubs around Britain.
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
signed him in 1914 for a fee of £2,000. Unfortunately he struggled to ever make a big impact on the team due to various events. Soon after joining the club he was involved in a motorcycle crash that kept him out of the team for a long period and he had made just twenty appearances following his recovery when 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 ...
was suspended due to the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He returned home to Scotland during the war (winning the 1917–18 Scottish Football League title with Rangers during the second of three seasons with the
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
club) and Sheffield Wednesday struggled to get him to return to the club after the hostilities had ended as he was not happy with the deal being offered. He did eventually return to play for the club but, following their relegation, he left to join Cardiff City in 1920 for £3,500. He made his debut in a 4–2 win over
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
and went on to establish himself in Cardiff's first team during his six years at
Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...
. In 1925 Blair was on the losing side 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 ...
final against
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
following
Fred Tunstall Fred Tunstall (28 May 1897 – 21 July 1971) was an English football player and coach who played for Darfield St George's, Scunthorpe & Lindsey United, Sheffield United, Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association footba ...
's goal. He left the club in 1926 and played for two years at Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic before retiring. He later spent time in a coaching role at Cardiff before moving into the licensing trade.


International

During the early 1920s Blair became a regular for
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and won a total of eight caps, captaining the side on three occasions, making his first appearance on 13 March 1920 against
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and his final appearance on 16 February 1924 against
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
.


Honours

;Clyde *
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1909–10, 1911–12 * Glasgow Charity Cup: 1909–10 ;Rangers *
Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...
: 1917–18 *
Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...
: 1917–18, 1918–19 * Glasgow Charity Cup: 1918–19 ;Cardiff City *
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 ...
: finalist 1924–25 *
Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...
: 1921–22, 1922–23
;Scotland *
Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
: 1922 –23


See also

*
List of Scotland national football team captains This article lists all the captains of the Scotland national football team. As of 16 November 2022, Scotland have played 816 officially recognised international matches and have had 155 different team captains. George Young captained Scotland m ...
* List of Scotland wartime international footballers *
List of Scottish football families This is a list of Scottish football (soccer) families. ;Families included on the list must have: # at least, one member of the family is capped by a national team on the senior level or an important person in the game of football (e.g., notable ...


References


External links


London Hearts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Jimmy 1888 births 1964 deaths Footballers from North Lanarkshire Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland wartime international footballers Clyde F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players English Football League players Ashfield F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Place of death missing Association football defenders FA Cup Final players