James William "Judy" Masters (21 May 1892 – 2 December 1955) was a

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who captained the

Australia national association football team The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's Association football, soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, wh ...

in five matches in 1923 and 1924. Masters was recognised as one of Australia's best players of his time. In over 400 club and representative games he was never cautioned.

Biography

Masters was born in 1892 to Alexander George Masters and Frances Eliza Masters,

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Campbell and was one of thirteen children. His father had been a miner born in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and his mother was from Sydney. Masters first captained the Balgownie Public School team at the age of 12.

Club career

He then joined Balgownie Rangers Soccer Club (the oldest surviving football club in Australia) in 1904, gaining selection for the senior side at the age of 15 in 1907 after being coached by Tom Thompson, and played alongside Dave Ward and Frank Smith. Masters went on to captain Balgownie Rangers, South Coast FC, and received representative honours with

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(who he first played for in 1908 when 16, at inside-right), then Granville and

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

after enlisting at the Liverpool barracks before departing for service at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and in France. He led an AIF team which was formed in France after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

in 1918. When he returned to Australia, Masters rejoined Balgownie in their undefeated 1921 championship side.

International career

Masters appeared 22 times for Australia including six full international matches. He was captain of Australia five times in full internationals. His first match for the national side came in 1924 in a B international against a Chinese Universities team on 8 August, when he scored four times. He was captain of Australia in: five games against the Chinese Universities team in 1923, all five tests against Canada in 1924, and three games against FC Bohemians Praha of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1927.

Outside football

While playing Masters worked as a miner at the

Corrimal Corrimal is a northern suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Lederer Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall ne ...

coal mine. After retiring, he became an executive officer for the South Coast Soccer Association. For over a decade Masters was master of the Balgownie Citizens' Band.

Military service

Masters served in the Australian Imperial Force between 1915 until the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was in the front line at

and later at the Western Front. In 1916, at

Pozières Pozières (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D929 road, northeast of Amiens between Albert and Bapaume, on the Pozières ridge. Southwest of the village on ...

on the Western Front, Masters was injured in the shoulder.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Australia goal.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, James 1892 births 1955 deaths Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Australian military personnel of World War I Judy Men's association football forwards Soccer players from Wollongong