James Goodfellow (16 September 1943 – 22 April 2020) was an English professional footballer and manager. A midfielder, he scored 39 goals in 535 league and cup appearances in a 13-year career in the English Football League. He spent his youth with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, but did not earn a professional contract. Instead he played amateur and semi-professional football with

Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Footba ...

, and

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

; he won the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

with Crook Town in 1964. He entered the Football League with Port Vale in 1966, before transferring to Workington in May 1969. He moved on to Rotherham United in January 1974 for a £3,000 fee, and helped the "Millers" to win promotion out of 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 ...

in 1974–75. He ended his playing career after spending the 1978–79 season with Stockport County. He then took up coaching with Newport County,

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

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

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He served as Cardiff's manager for six months in 1984, and later worked behind the scenes at the club until his retirement in May 2008.

Playing career

Early career

Goodfellow signed for

, despite being a

fan, but was released by the club at the age of 17 without making a first team appearance. He moved into non-league football, signing for

, before moving to

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

side

in March 1962. In 1964, he scored Crook Town's first goal at Wembley when he scored against Enfield in the Amateur Cup final victory; the headed goal was credited to Matt Lumsdon in some newspaper reports. Goodfellow became unhappy with the way the team was selected at Crook Town, being chosen by a committee rather than the club's manager, and agreed to join

when manager Lawrie McMenemy asked him to do so. During his time as a semi-professional and amateur player he worked at the Vickers naval yard on the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wate ...

Port Vale

Goodfellow got the call to move into league football at the age of 23, when he was signed to

Jackie Mudie John Knight Mudie (10 April 1930 – 2 March 1992) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward. He won seventeen caps for his country, helping the Scotland national team to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Startin ...

's Port Vale. He scored his first goal in the

on 1 October 1966, in a 2–2 draw with

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

at Holker Street. He went on to finish the 1966–67 campaign with seven goals in 28 appearances. Stanley Matthews then took charge at Vale Park, with disastrous consequences; Goodfellow scored twice in 31 games in 1967–68, as the club slipped to 18th place. New boss Gordon Lee then revitalised the club, though after two goals in 36 games in 1968–69, Goodfellow joined Workington on a free transfer in May 1969.

Workington

The "Reds" finished just one place and one point above the re-election zone in 1969–70, before rising up to tenth place in 1970–71. New boss George Aitken then led the club to sixth and 13th-place finishes in the 1971–72 and 1972–73 campaigns. Goodfellow scored 15 goals in 199 Fourth Division appearances in his time at Borough Park.

Rotherham United

Goodfellow signed for Rotherham United in January 1974 after being recommended to manager Jimmy McGuigan by Hartlepool United manager Len Ashurst, who was unable to pay the £3,000 fee Workington demanded. He scored on his Rotherham debut, the club's first ever Sunday game, a 2–1 defeat to Northampton Town. The "Millers" finished 15th in 1973–74, before winning promotion with a third-place finish in 1974–75 with Goodfellow forming part of a highly effective left-sided triangle along with left-back

John Breckin John Breckin (born 27 July 1953) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He is the uncle of Nottingham Forest defender, Ian Breckin and is also the great uncle of Manchester City midfielder, Kian Breckin (who c ...

and left-winger Alan Crawford. He went on to captain Rotherham as they adjusted well to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

, featuring in all 50 games as the club posted a 16th-place finish in 1975–76. Rotherham missed out on promotion due to a slightly inferior goal difference to Crystal Palace in 1976–77. Rotherham then dropped to just one position and three points above the relegation zone in the 1977–78 campaign and though Goodfellow missed just three games at Millmoor he was released in the summer.

Stockport County

He ended his playing career with Stockport County at the end of the 1978–79 season. He made just three Fourth Division appearances for Mike Summerbee's "Hatters", before departing Edgeley Park.

Style of play

A highly consistent player, his one weakness was his lack of goals. Goodfellow self-deprecatingly described himself as "a non-running, non-tackling, non-heading midfielder".

Coaching career

Goodfellow was asked by Len Ashurst to join him as his assistant manager at Newport County, and the duo would go on to lead the "Exiles" to promotion out of the Fourth Division in the 1979–80 season, the Welsh Cup title in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, and to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. However he was sacked in November 1981. Ashurst himself was sacked three months later, and after being appointed as manager of

in March 1982 he again installed Goodfellow as his assistant. Goodfellow helped Ashurst lead Cardiff to promotion into the Second Division in 1982–83. Ashurst would leave in March 1984 to take over at

, his hometown club. Goodfellow was appointed joint caretaker manager of Cardiff, alongside senior player Jimmy Mullen. At the end of the season he was named as the club's permanent manager, with Mullen as his assistant. However, Goodfellow had a poor start to his tenure as City manager, losing eight of the first nine games of the 1984–85 season, and was sacked after just over two months in charge and replaced by Alan Durban. After his dismissal he joined

as physiotherapist, before joining up with Lawrie McMenemy again for an ill-fated spell at Sunderland. Two years after leaving Ninian Park, he was asked to return to Cardiff as the club's physiotherapist and coach by then manager

Frank Burrows Frank Burrows (30 January 1944 – 24 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager who played as a central defender. Life and career Frank Burrows began his football career at Scottish club Raith Rovers. In 1965 he moved south ...

. He remained in the backroom staff when manager Eddie May led Cardiff to the Third Division title in the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

season. Goodfellow would go on to serve the "Bluebirds" with distinction under a series of managers, and in 1998 he was given a testimonial by the club against

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

, with Goodfellow himself being brought on in the final few minutes, at the age of 55. He retired in May 2008 and died on 22 April 2020 in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, aged 76.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source:

Managerial statistics

Honours

;Crook Town *

: 1964 ;Rotherham United *

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 ...

third-place promotion: 1974–75

References

;General * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodfellow, Jimmy 1943 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Bishop Auckland Footballers from County Durham Footballers from Sunderland English footballers Association football midfielders Consett A.F.C. players Crook Town A.F.C. players Bishop Auckland F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players English football managers Cardiff City F.C. managers English Football League managers Association football coaches Association football physiotherapists Newport County A.F.C. non-playing staff Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff Plymouth Argyle F.C. non-playing staff Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff