James Sanders (5 July 1920 – 11 August 2003) was an English

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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, most notably for

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 ...

Biography

Sanders joined

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

from

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

towards the end of the

Second World War 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 ...

but found his progress hampered by both the outbreak of the war and the presence of Addicks legend

Sam Bartram Samuel Bartram (22 January 1914 – 17 July 1981) was an English professional footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper and holds the record for most appearances for Charlton Athletic, his only club at the professional level. Career Aft ...

. His war service was spent with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, for whom he was a gunner pilot before being invalided out. Deprived of playing time due to the presence of Bartram, he appeared as a guest player for Chelsea,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and West Ham United before guesting for Albion, earning himself a £2,250 move to the Hawthorns. Sanders established himself as number one at the club until 1952 when he lost out to Norman Heath, although he continued to feature intermittently until his departure in 1958. He followed this with brief spells at

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and Hinckley Athletic before retiring in 1960. Following his retirement he left football to pursue a career in the pub trade, although he was distinguished by usually wearing his

1954 FA Cup Final The 1954 FA Cup Final was a football match between West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, played on 1 May 1954 at the original Wembley Stadium in London. It was the final match of the 1953–54 staging of English football's primary cup com ...

winners medal around his neck.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Jimmy 1920 births 2003 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney People from Hackney, London English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Charlton Athletic F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Hinckley Athletic F.C. players Chelsea F.C. wartime guest players Liverpool F.C. wartime guest players West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II English Football League players