James Atkinson (born 6 January 1995) is an English 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 ...

who plays 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 ...

for

Workington AFC Workington Association Football Club is an English football club based in Workington, Cumbria. The club competes in the Northern Premier League Division One North West, the eighth tier of English football. The club plays its home matches at ...

. Atkinson has previously played for Queen of the South, Annan Athletic and Gretna 2008.

Career

Born in Carlisle,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, Atkinson started his career at Queen of the South. Atkinson was first included in a match-day squad on 23 July 2011, remaining an unused substitute as the team lost 2–0 after extra time at

Somerset Park Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United. H ...

versus

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

in the first round of the Scottish Challenge Cup. Atkinson was also an unused substitute in 18

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

matches that season, a campaign which ended in relegation to Division Two. Atkinson was also on the substitute's bench when Queens won the

2013 Scottish Challenge Cup Final The 2013 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Ramsdens Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match between Queen of the South and Partick Thistle on 7 April 2013 at Almondvale Stadium in Livingston. It was the ...

against Partick Thistle on 7 April 2013. Atkinson made his debut on 4 May 2013, replacing Lee Robinson for the final seven minutes of the 1–0 win at

Cliftonhill Cliftonhill Stadium, commonly known as Cliftonhill and currently 'The Reigart Stadium' for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League te ...

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Coatbrid ...

versus Albion Rovers. This win enabled the title winners, Queen of the South a record

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

total of 92 points, in the final ever season that the Second Division was contested. The new league structure then changed the name of the third tier of Scottish football to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

for the start of the 2013-14 season. On 29 January 2014, Atkinson played his first professional game, a 1–1

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

draw at Cappielow versus

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

, replacing the injured Zander Clark after 24 minutes, due to Clark obtaining an injury midway through the first half. In Clark's absence, Atkinson started his first game three days later, in a 2–1 win over Livingston. Two weeks later, Atkinson was given a straight red card in a match versus Dundee at

Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman an ...

for conceding a penalty after fouling

Martin Boyle Martin Callie Boyle (born 25 April 1993) is a professional footballer who plays for Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership. Born in Scotland, he represents the Australia national team. He is a right sided winger who is also capable of playin ...

that

Ryan Conroy Ryan Conroy (born 28 April 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-winger for Peterhead. He can also play as a left-back. Conroy has previously played for Celtic, Queen of the South, Partick Thistle on loan, Dundee, R ...

converted past the replacement Queens goalkeeper, Calum Antell for the only goal of the match. Atkinson's contract wasn't renewed during May 2017, so was released after having played only 17 league matches in four seasons with the Dumfries club. After leaving near neighbours Queens, Atkinson signed for Annan Athletic on 7 July 2017 after a successful trial. During the 2018 close season, Atkinson was released by the ''Black and Golds'' after playing in 14 league matches and 4 league cup games and then signed for Gretna 2008 in the Lowland League. Atkinson signed for

in 2019.

Career statistics

Honours

Queen of the South * Scottish Challenge Cup:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, James 1995 births Living people Footballers from Carlisle, Cumbria English footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Queen of the South F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Annan Athletic F.C. players