James White (21 August 1899 – August 1983), also known as Jimmy White or Tec White, is a Scottish former

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 spent most of his career playing for

Fall River Marksmen Fall River Marksmen was an American soccer club based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They originally played as Fall River United before becoming known as the Marksmen after their owner, Sam Mark. During the 1920s and early 1930s they were one of t ...

in the American Soccer League. He was born in

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Airdrie (; sco, Airdrie; gd, An t-Àrd Ruigh) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft (130 m) above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow city centre. , the town had a ...

, Scotland.

Playing career

In 1920, White signed with

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

of the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wh ...

and helped them reach the

1920 Scottish Cup Final The 1919–20 Scottish Cup was the 42nd staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Kilmarnock who defeated Albion Rovers in the final.Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

; his brother Jock was also in the side (two other brothers,

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

and Tom, were also footballers – all four played together for Heart of Midlothian in the

Lord Provost's Rent Relief Cup The Lord Provost's Rent Relief Cup comprised two separate football tournaments played in aid of the Lord Provost's Rent Relief Fund in 1921. Held in Edinburgh and Glasgow, both were one-off competitions. Various other tournaments and events were he ...

final of 1923 which their side won through two goals from Jock).Hall of Fame , Jock White (2018)
Heart of Midlothian FC Record of pre-war Scottish League Players John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012 He spent two seasons with Albion before joining Maidstone United of the English Southern League in 1923. After one season with Maidstone, White transferred to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. White was one of several players who were recruited from the

Sam Mark Sam Mark (born Markelevitch in Fall River, Massachusetts) is a former United States soccer club owner. During the 1920s and early 1930s he was the owner of Fall River Marksmen, one of the era's most successful teams. Mark's continued to own the team ...

to play for

. Others included Tommy Martin, also from Motherwell,

Charlie McGill Charles McGill (3 February 1903 – 1988) was a Scottish footballer who played as a left back. He spent much of his career in the United States, most of it with Fall River Marksmen, where he won the American Soccer League three times ( 1925� ...

from

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

and wing-half

Bill McPherson William McPherson (September 22, 1897 – July 1976) was a Scottish-American soccer wing half. He began his career in Scotland before moving to the American Soccer League. He also spent time in the St. Louis Soccer League, winning a total of fiv ...

from

Beith Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) after its ''Court ...

. These players would become the backbone of the a very successful Marksmen team during the 1920s and early 1930s. In later seasons his teammates also included, among others,

Billy Gonsalves Adelino William Gonsalves (August 10, 1908 – July 17, 1977) was an American soccer player, sometimes described as the "Babe Ruth of American Soccer". He spent over 25 years playing in various American professional leagues and was a member of th ...

Bert Patenaude Bertrand "Bert" Arthur Patenaude (; November 4, 1909November 4, 1974) was an American soccer player who played as a forward. Although it was formerly disputed, he is now officially credited by FIFA as scorer of the first hat-trick in the World Cu ...

Werner Nilsen Werner "Scotty" Nilsen (February 4, 1904 in Skien, Norway – May 10, 1992 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former Norwegian American soccer forward. He is one of the highest scoring players in U.S. soccer history, scoring 131 goals in 239 games wit ...

and

Alex McNab Alexander McNab (27 December 1894 – 3 April 1960) was a Scottish-American soccer player and coach. He began his career in Scotland before moving to the United States. In the US, he won six consecutive National Challenge Cups with teams from b ...

. Between 1925 and 1931, White made 243 league appearances and scored 111 goals for the Marksmen in the American Soccer League, helping them win five league titles. He also helped them win the

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

three times, scoring twice goals in the 1927 final against Holley Carburetor F.C. . He also played for the Marksmen in friendlies against Rangers and

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

and in 1930 was a member of the Marksmen squad that toured Central Europe. In 1931 when

relocated and merged the Marksmen franchise twice, White followed the team on both occasions. They first moved to New York City, where they merged with

New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club ( Youth Soccer Team ) was the name of a New York City, New York association football, soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League (1921-1933), American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant M ...

and became the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. In the summer of 1931, White played for a Yankees team featuring

and

George Moorhouse George Moorhouse (April 4, 1901 – October 12, 1943) was the first native of England to appear in a FIFA World Cup (albeit as a member of the U.S. team rather than for England). He spent most of his playing career in the United States and ear ...

that twice played

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in friendlies. On 30 May at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

the Yankees won 4–3. However, on 28 June at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

, Celtic won the second game 4–1. The Yankees then moved to

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

where they merged with

Fall River F.C. Fall River Football Club, also referred to as Fall River Field Club, was the name used by two United States soccer clubs, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. Both played in the American Soccer League during the early 1930s. The name is often used ...

to become the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer League ...

. With the Whalers, White won a further two American Soccer League titles and the 1932 National Challenge Cup. On 3 April 1932 he scored the opening goal in a 5–2 win against Stix, Bear and Fuller in the second leg of the final.www.usopencup.com
/ref>

Honours

Fall River Marksmen * American Soccer League **''Winners'' 1925–26, 1928–29, Fall 1929, Spring 1930, Fall 1930: 5 *

**''Winners'' 1927, 1930, 1931: 3 *

Lewis Cup The Lewis Cup was an American soccer trophy established in 1914 as the championship trophy for the amateur Blue Mountain League, which was composed of clubs from the Lehigh Valley region of northeastern Pennsylvania. It was later awarded to the win ...

**''Winners'' 1930: 1 **''Runners Up'' 1925: 1 *

American Cup The American Cup (also known as the American Football Association Cup and the American Federation Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1885. In the 1910s, it gradually dec ...

**''Runners Up'' 1924: 1 New Bedford Whalers * American Soccer League **''Winners'' Fall 1931, Spring 1932: 2 *

**''Winners'' 1932: 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, James 1899 births 1983 deaths Scottish footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Albion Rovers F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Motherwell F.C. players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Fall River Marksmen players New York Yankees (soccer) players New Bedford Whalers players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players New York Brookhattan players Footballers from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Association football forwards Association football midfielders Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States People from Assonet, Massachusetts Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish Football League players