James Dickinson (11 November 1899 – 1971) 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 le ...

who played 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 ...

for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He played as a

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 ...

. Dickinson was born in

Crawshawbooth Crawshawbooth is a small village on the edge of the Pennine hills in England just north of the market town of Rawtenstall, Lancashire, and just south of Loveclough. It is part of the valley of Rossendale, an ancient royal hunting ground. The m ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. After service in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

he joined

, then a Southern League club, in 1919, and went on to make 141 appearances for the club in all competitions, 111 of which were in

. Dixon played in Argyle's first game in the Football League, as the Southern League Division One clubs were absorbed to form the

Football League Third Division 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 f ...

for the 1920–21 season, and was involved in the buildup to their first Football League goal, scored by Jimmy Heeps. He played his last game for Argyle in November 1924, and then returned to Lancashire, where he joined Wigan Borough, though without appearing in their Football League side, and then

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club Rossendale United. He finished his Football League career with 16 games for

in the 1926–27 season. Dickinson died in 1971.

References

1899 births 1971 deaths People from Crawshawbooth English footballers Association football midfielders Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Wigan Borough F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Date of death missing Place of death missing 20th-century Royal Navy personnel {{England-footy-midfielder-1890s-stub