James Gauld (9 May 1931 – 9 December 2004) was a Scottish

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 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 ...

. He began his career with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

but failed to make a

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

appearance before being released. Gauld went on to play in the Highland League for

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlemen ...

and

Elgin City Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray. Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...

, and then played in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

for

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. In his one season with the club, he finished as top goalscorer in the

with 30 goals. His form led to a move to England in 1955, where he joined

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. Gauld was transferred to Everton the following year, and then joined

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, ...

in 1957. Two seasons later, he was on the move again, joining

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

for a club record fee. In 1960, Gauld spent a brief period with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

and then moved to

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

, where a broken leg ended his career. It was after his playing days had finished that he gained notoriety for instigating and then exposing

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

in the game. Gauld enticed several players into

betting Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...

on the outcome of fixed matches, including England internationals

Tony Kay Anthony Herbert Kay (born 13 May 1937) is an English former footballer who became notorious after being banned from the professional game for life following the British betting scandal of 1964. Kay played for Sheffield Wednesday before beco ...

and Peter Swan. In 1964, Gauld sold his story to the ''

Sunday People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...

'' for £7,000, incriminating Kay, Swan and former teammate

David Layne David "Bronco" Layne (born Sheffield, 29 July 1939) is an English former footballer most famous for playing for Sheffield Wednesday and his involvement in the British betting scandal of 1964. Playing career Rotherham United Layne started his ...

in the process. Described by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' as the "ringleader", Gauld was sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined £5,000. In total, 33 players were prosecuted for their involvement in the

1964 British betting scandal The British betting scandal of 1964 was a scandal in English association football in which ten professional players were gaoled for offences arising from match fixing. History Former Scottish youth international and Swindon Town, Plymouth Argyle ...

Life and career

Born in

, Gauld began his career with his home club side

, with whom he was selected for the Scottish Youth side. Released by the club in 1950 without playing a first team game, Gauld appeared in the Highland League for

and

before joining

side

. Gauld was the top goalscorer in the 1954–55 League of Ireland season with 30 goals. He went on to play 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

, Everton,

and

, who he joined for a club record fee. A brief spell with

followed before he joined

, where a badly broken leg suffered during a game played on Boxing Day 1960 ended his career. In the summer of 1960 he played abroad in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

with Montreal Cantalia. Once his playing days were over, Gauld pursued a shadow career of

. In 1964 – in search of a final "payday" – he sold his story to the ''

'' for £7,000, incriminating three

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 ...

players that he had enticed into the scheme: Peter Swan,

and

. Gauld's taped conversations were ultimately to convict himself and the three Sheffield Wednesday players, with the judge making it clear that he held Gauld responsible for ruining the other three. Gauld, described as the "central figure", was

sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. History Early years (1988–1991) Sentenced started in 1988 as Deformity and c ...

to four years

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

for

conspiracy to defraud Conspiracy to defraud is an offence under the common law of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales The standard definition of a conspiracy to defraud was provided by Lord Dilhorne in '' Scott v Metropolitan Police Commissioner'' ...

and was fined £5,000. He and the othersEngland footballers Peter Swan and Tony Kay among the last sportsmen to be jailed for rigging matches
Retrieved July 31, 2020 were banned from football for life by

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

, though several life bans were eventually lifted, with both Swan and Layne returning to Sheffield Wednesday in 1972. The scandal was dramatised in a 1997

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

film called '' The Fix'', directed by

Paul Greengrass Paul Greengrass (born 13 August 1955) is a British film director, film producer, screenwriter and former journalist. He specialises in dramatisations of historic events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras. His early film ' ...

, in which the role of Gauld was played by

Christopher Fulford Christopher Fulford (born 1955) is a British actor who is best known for his supporting roles in many British TV shows, one of the earliest being punk Alex in the short lived sitcom '' Sorry, I'm A Stranger Here Myself'' (1981–82). Career Ful ...

. Gauld died in London in 2004.

References

External links

* at

Swindon Town F.C. Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gauld, Jimmy 1931 births 2004 deaths Footballers from Aberdeen Scottish footballers Association football forwards Aberdeen F.C. players Huntly F.C. players Elgin City F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Everton F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players League of Ireland players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Canadian National Soccer League players 20th-century Scottish criminals Sportspeople involved in betting scandals Highland Football League players Sportspeople convicted of crimes