Robert James Shields (26 September 1931 – 9 January 2020) was a 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 at

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

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 ...

in the late 1950s, as well as for the

Northern Ireland national football team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland natio ...

Playing career

Born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Shields was a

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

youth international. He started his professional career in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

with

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

and was part of the Crusaders side which claimed their first major honour, the 1953–54

Ulster Cup The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Eu ...

. He was rewarded with an inter-league appearance (in a 5–0 defeat by the Football League at Windsor Park in September 1953) and an Amateur cap (when he scored in a 3–2 win over Wales in January 1954). He moved to England in March 1954 when he was signed by

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 ...

but failed to break into their first team. In July 1956 he moved to the south coast to join

for a fee of £1,000 which was funded by the Saints Supporters Club. He was the first signing of "Saints'" newly appointed manager Ted Bates, having set the deal up on his way to Scotland for a holiday. Described by Holley & Chalk as a "strong, forceful forward" he was selected for the Northern Ireland team for a match against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 7 November 1956. He scored on his "Saints" debut on 18 August 1956 and scored eleven goals in the opening twelve matches. The goals then dried up somewhat, until a flurry of four in the final four matches. Over the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

he was almost a match for fellow striker

Derek Reeves Derek Reeves (27 August 1934 – 22 May 1995) was an English footballer, born in Poole, Dorset, who played as a centre forward for Southampton and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in the Football League. Football career Derek Reeves joined Sou ...

scoring a total of 18 league goals as Saints narrowly missed out on promotion from

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. A broken leg suffered in a reserve match in September 1957 resulted in Shields missing the entire 1957–58 season. He played just three times in 1958–59 before leaving Southampton for

Headington United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

of the Southern League in March 1959. In 1961 he returned to the

north east The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

where he played for

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

whilst resuming his original career as a

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

Honours

;Crusaders *

: 1953–54

References

External links

Northern Ireland profileDetails of Headington career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Jimmy 1931 births 2020 deaths Sportspeople from Derry (city) Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers Crusaders F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players South Shields F.C. (1936) players Southern Football League players Larne F.C. players Association football forwards