James Arthur Murray (9 June 1880 – 29 October 1933) was a Scottish 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 ...

who played in

the 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 ...

for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and Small Heath. He played as a right-sided

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He represented the Scottish Junior international team. Murray was born in Benwhat, Dalmellington,

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

. He played for St Augustine's and for Benwhat Heatherbell before joining

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

in 1897. In March 1901 he moved to England and signed for

champions

; he played once in the 1900–01 season and once the following season before joining local rivals Small Heath in November 1901. Murray scored in his only competitive outing for Small Heath, in a losing cause against

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 ...

in the First Division, and was described as "fairly fast, has capital command of the ball and can shoot excellently". Nevertheless, he moved to Southern League club

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 ...

in 1902, and later appeared for

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

and Wellingborough, also in the Southern League. He died in

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 ...

in 1933 at the age of 53.

References

1880 births 1933 deaths Footballers from East Ayrshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Ayr F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Wellingborough Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players People from Dalmellington {{Scotland-footy-forward-1880s-stub