James Spoors 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 ...

and manager, who played for

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 ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, and

Rotherham County Rotherham County F.C. was an English football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. They spent a number of years in the English Football League before merging with rivals Rotherham Town in 1925 to form Rotherham United. History The club w ...

, as well as Worksop Town.

Sheffield Wednesday

Spoors joined Sheffield Wednesday in 1908 and played there for twelve years, with a brief period on loan to Rotherham County in 1916, helping them to defeat Sheffield United for the second time that season.

First World War

After initially working in a munitions factory Spoors served with the 4th Depot, 302nd Battery

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

in France and Italy during the First World War, he was a qualified mechanic. He also represented the army at football when in service.

Barnsley

In June 1920 Spoors moved to Barnsley, overcoming a serious knee injury which appeared to have curtailed his playing career, at Sheffield Wednesday. Spoors played primarily at Barnsley as a defender but was unorthodoxly occasionally played as a centre forward, in an experimental capacity by the club, with quite prolific results. Alongside his duties as a player Spoors managed the reserve team, in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

Post retirement

After retiring from football, Spoors became a talented bowls player, winning the Brewers Bowl in 1933. Spoors was also a licensed victualler and associate member of the Sheffield, Rotherham and District Licensed Victuallers Association, running the Old Blue Ball on Bradfield Road, Hillsborough.

Family

Parish records show that on 14 May 1914 Spoors married Winifred, the daughter of former England and Sheffield Wednesday footballer Jack Hudson. They gave their address as the Castle Inn, Dykes Hall Road, Hillsborough, the public house run by Hudson. Military records show that they had a daughter, Annie Margaret.

References

1880s births Men's association football defenders Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Rotherham County F.C. players English Football League players English men's footballers 1960 deaths English football managers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers Military personnel from Tyne and Wear☆ Footballers from Jarrow {{England-footy-defender-1880s-stub