James Adam Littlejohn (8 July 1910,

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 ...

– 24 August 1989,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Career

He won Scotland junior international caps before joining

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 ...

in 1934. He moved to Cowdenbeath in 1939, but signed for Dundee United under wartime conditions.Jimmy Littlejohn Player Profile
Arab Archive He was influential in the club's unexpected progress to the final of the Emergency War Cup at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

, when he led the side following an injury to captain Jerry Kerr (United lost 1–0 to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

). That was the only season he played for United, but he was invited to join the board in 1942 and after the abrupt departure of manager Jimmy Allan in October of that year, he was asked by fellow directors to take over. He remained in post for just over two years, a period in which United struggled in the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

as they found it difficult to attract the better players available during the unusual conditions of wartime. Littlejohn handed over the manager's job to one of his players, Charlie McGillivray, in November 1944, but remained a director. With the exception of three years when he stepped down due to ill health, he was a board member for the rest of his life, though his greatest contribution to Dundee United was the establishment of Taypools. It was he who spotted the scheme's potential, and without its invaluable financial input it is unlikely that the club could have become established in Division One during the 1960s. His son, Bill, was a director at Tannadice from 1989 to 2002 and the club's chief executive between October 2000 and January 2002.

References

1910 births Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Glasgow 1989 deaths Dundee United F.C. wartime guest players Scottish football managers Dundee United F.C. managers Dundee United F.C. directors and chairmen Men's association football central defenders St Johnstone F.C. players St Anthony's F.C. players Directors of football clubs in Scotland Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Cowdenbeath F.C. players 20th-century Scottish businesspeople {{Scotland-footy-defender-1910s-stub