James Atkinson (1886 – after 1910) was 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 played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers.

Life and career

Atkinson was born in 1886 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and was playing

Manchester League The Manchester Football League is a football league in England, affiliated with Manchester FA, covering a 30-mile radius from Manchester Town Hall. It was formed in 1893, although play ceased between 1912 and 1920. Currently it consists of fiv ...

football for Newton Heath Athletic by the age of 15. He moved on to Sale Holmefield, had a trial with Manchester United that came to nothing, then signed for Bolton Wanderers in March 1905. He scored on his debut in the First Division a year later, but played only twice more in the league before spending the 1908–09 Southern League season as

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

's regular left half. A season with another Southern League club,

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, followed, and he then joined Barrow of the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...

References

1886 births Year of death missing Footballers from Manchester English footballers Men's association football inside forwards Men's association football wing halves Newton Heath Athletic F.C. players Sale Holmefield A.F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players {{England-footy-midfielder-1880s-stub