James McGuigan (1 March 1924 – 30 March 1988) was a Scottish professional football player and manager.

Career

Playing career

McGuigan, who played as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, played

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

football with Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic, before turning professional in 1946 with

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

. After just one season in the Scottish Football League, McGuigan moved to England, playing in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for Sunderland,

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. McGuigan made a total of 334 League appearances between 1946 and 1959, scoring 48 goals.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player in 1959, McGuigan became a coach at former club

, before becoming manager in March 1960. After leaving Crewe in 1964, he later managed

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, Chesterfield,

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

and

. At Chesterfield, McGuigan won the 1969-70 Fourth Division title; he won the Manager of the Year award the same year.

Managerial stats

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcguigan, Jimmy 1924 births 1988 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scottish football managers Bonnyrigg Rose F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Crewe Alexandra F.C. managers Grimsby Town F.C. managers Chesterfield F.C. managers Rotherham United F.C. managers Stockport County F.C. managers English Football League managers Men's association football wing halves Sheffield United F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from West Lothian Scottish Junior Football Association players