James McCambridge (23 September 1905 – 1988) was an Irish 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 was capped 4 times by

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

during his career.

Career

McCambridge began his football career with his hometown club

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

and reached the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

final in 1928, in which Larne were defeated by Willowfield after a replay.Coleman, N. (2015). ''The Official History of Ballymena United FC''. Ballyhay Books. In June 1928, McCambridge became one of the first signings for the newly formed

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

team and was a goalscoring revelation at the Ballymena Showgrounds - scoring 32 goals including one in the

final as the Braidmen shocked

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for polit ...

to win the cup in their first season of senior football. The second season continued with similar success and on 1 February 1930 he became the first Ballymena player to be capped at international level when he played in a 7–0 win over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He retained his place for the next International three weeks later, as Ireland lost to Scotland at Parkhead.

Professional career

Shortly after the Scotland game, McCambridge secured a £1,750 transfer to Everton. However, he spent just three months at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

, making one appearance in place of

Dixie Dean William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He is regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards of all time and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in ...

in a 3–0 win over

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in 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 ...

. He left the club in December to sign for

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 ...

, scoring twice on his debut the following month in January 1931 during a 3–2 defeat to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. He finished the season with 9 goals, including a hat-trick against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. His first full season at the club the next year yielded a total of 28 goals in all competitions and, with 26 of the goals scored in the league, he broke the club record of league goals scored in a single season set by

Hughie Ferguson Hugh Ferguson (2 March 1895 – 8 January 1930) was a Scottish professional footballer. Born in Motherwell, he played for Parkhead at junior level as a semi-professional and was one of the most sought after young players in Scotland before sig ...

four years earlier by one. His record stood for 15 years until it was broken by

Stan Richards Stanley Richardson, known professionally as Stan Richards (8 December 1930 – 11 February 2005), was an English television actor, best known for his portrayal of Seth Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Career He played the ro ...

in the 1946–47 season. The following season, McCambridge was unable to match his goalscoring feat of the previous year but still finished as the club's top scorer with 18 goals in all competitions. Despite finishing as Cardiff's top scorer in his two full seasons at Ninian Park, as well as winning the final two Ireland caps of his career in matches against Wales and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he was allowed to leave in 1933 to join Bristol Rovers. He moved around several times in the following years, playing at Exeter City,

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 ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

before finishing his career at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

in the Southern League."Jimmy McCambridge"
NIfootball.com Retrieved on 10 June 2009

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCambridge, Jimmy 1905 births 1988 deaths Sportspeople from Larne Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Ballymena F.C. players Everton F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players English Football League players Irish League representative players Men's association football forwards