James Leaver (born 26 December 1898, died 1959) 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 ...

. He spent six years at

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 ...

in the early 1900s, making over 100

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 ...

appearances for the club. Born in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, he played as a defender.

Blackpool

Leaver made his debut for Blackpool on 7 February 1920, in a 1–0 victory at

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 ...

. He went on to make two further appearances (in the succeeding two matches) in the 1920–21 season. Leaver made four appearances in 1921–22. He also scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–1 victory over

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

on 6 May in the final league game of the season. In 1922–23, Leaver appeared in over half of ''the Seasiders''' league games. In his 28 starts, he scored one goal – in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

on 7 April. Leaver achieved exactly the same stats in 1923–24. This time, however, his goal came in the first game of the league campaign, a 2–2 draw at home to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

on 25 August. For the 1924–25 term, Leaver made 33 league appearances, his most in a Blackpool shirt. He also helped the club to the fourth round of 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 ...

. The 1925–26 season was Leaver's final one with Blackpool. He made ten league appearances and scored one goal. His strike came in a busy September, during which Blackpool played eight league games, in a 2–2 draw at home to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. Leaver left Blackpool to join

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, joining

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire ...

in August 1928 where he was immediately made club captain. He left for

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

in the 1932 close season and later became their manager. He took over as manager of Mossley in August 1939 remaining in that poast until May 1940 when football was ended due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaver, Jimmy 1898 births English footballers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Watford F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. managers Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. managers English Football League players Footballers from Blackburn 1959 deaths Association football defenders English football managers