James Yardley (16 April 1903 – 1959) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

, best known as a player for Luton Town.

Playing career

Yardley signed for Luton Town from

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

during the 1926–27 season, but failed to score before the season ended. During 1927–28, his first full season with the club, Yardley scored 23 league goals. He continued his good form the next season, scoring 19. He continued his good form until 1932, when he was surprisingly sold to

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 ...

. In 1936, now well into his 30s, he returned to Scotland where he scored 38 top flight

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

goals over three seasons with Third Lanark and Ayr United, and was selected for the

Glasgow FA Founded in 1883, the Glasgow Football Association, based in the city of Glasgow, Scotland and affiliated to the national Scottish Football Association, is one of the oldest such bodies in football. In the modern game its influence is limited, th ...

's annual challenge match against

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in November 1936. He moved on to

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

, but the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

a short time later brought his career to an end.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yardley, Jimmy Association football forwards Scottish footballers English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Leyton Orient F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Millwall F.C. players 1903 births 1959 deaths Third Lanark A.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Wishaw Juniors F.C. players Date of death missing Sportspeople from Wishaw Footballers from North Lanarkshire