Jimmy Douglas (January 12, 1898 – March 5, 1972) was a U.S.

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 ...

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 ...

who spent his career in the first American Soccer League (ASL). He earned nine

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with the U.S. national team, making his first appearance for the "Stars and Stripes" at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The o ...

. Notably, he finished his international career at the

1930 FIFA World Cup The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body, selected Uruguay as host nati ...

, where he posted the first "

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

" in World Cup history. Douglas was inducted into the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors Association football, soccer ...

in 1953.

Playing career

Douglas began his organized playing career with the youth club, Central Juniors of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

in 1907 when he was nine years old. Over the next fourteen years he played for a variety of amateur teams including Ryerson, Antlers, Erie and Swansons. In 1922, he signed with Harrison S.C. of the American Soccer League (ASL). However, he remained an amateur, refusing to accept any payment. In the 1922-1923 ASL season, Douglas played twenty-three games, winning fourteen and gaining a 2.44

goals against average Goals against average (GAA) also known as "average goals against" or "AGA" is a statistic used in field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and water polo that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender or goalkeeper (dependin ...

(GAA). In 1923, he moved to the

Newark Skeeters The Newark Skeeters was an American soccer club based in Newark, New Jersey and was a member of the American Soccer League and the Eastern Soccer League. History In December 1924, Tom Adam, former manager of West Hudson A.A., became the manage ...

(at times called Newark F.C.). Douglas spent two seasons with Newark, still maintaining his amateur status. In the fall of 1925, Douglas began playing for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. However, the Newark Skeeters still listed Douglas on their rosters and the Giants were forced to forfeit several games after teams complained to the league. After the Giants got that problem straightened out, Douglas continued to play for them until October 1927 when he moved to the Fall River Marksmen. After one season in Fall River, Douglas then played twelve games of the 1928–1929 season with

Philadelphia Field Club Philadelphia Field Club is a name used by four soccer teams based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All four versions of Philadelphia F.C. competed in the first American Soccer League, but none were in any way related to the other three teams whic ...

before moving to the

Brooklyn Wanderers The Brooklyn Wanderers was a U.S. soccer team which was a founding member of the National Association Football League in the late nineteenth century. Later versions joined the original American Soccer League and the reorganized American Soccer Le ...

for three games. He then finished the season back with the Fall River Marksmen. In 1929, Douglas joined the New York Nationals. In 1930, Charles Stoneham, owner of the Nationals, renamed his team the New York Giants when the original Giants changed their name to

New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club ( Youth Soccer Team ) was the name of a New York soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant Maurice Vandeweghe - the father and grandfather of later basketball stars ...

. Douglas continued with the new Giants through the 1930 spring and fall season before moving to the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

in 1931. He played only seven games, then retired.

National team

Douglas earned nine

with the U.S. national team between 1924 and 1930. His first game came as a member of the

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in the

. He backstopped the U.S. to a 1–0 victory over

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on May 25, 1924, Douglas was named the game's MVP. Then four days later, the U.S. lost to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

3-0 which put the U.S. out of the tournament. Douglas then played the next two 1924 U.S. games. In 1925, he was in the nets for a U.S. 1–0 shutout of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. In 1930, he returned to the national team at the

. Douglas shutout

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and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

before losing to

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in the semifinals. About four minutes into that game, Douglas twisted his knee, then two U.S. players were injured. As the rules did not allow substitutes at the time, Douglas and his teammates were forced to play injured. Following the World Cup, the U.S. traveled to

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where it lost 4–3 to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Douglas finished his U.S. career with four wins and three shutouts. The

inducted Douglas in 1954. Douglas died on March 5, 1972, in

Point Pleasant, New Jersey Point Pleasant is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was down from 19,306 in 2000 but still up from 18,177 in 1990. The Borough is a Jersey Shore community s ...

References

External links

1930 World Cup

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Jimmy 1898 births 1930 FIFA World Cup players American soccer players Soccer players from New Jersey United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players of the United States Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Association football goalkeepers American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Harrison S.C. players Newark Skeeters players New York Giants (soccer) players Fall River Marksmen players Philadelphia Field Club players Brooklyn Wanderers players New York Nationals (ASL) players New York Giants (soccer, 1930–1932) players New York Americans (soccer) (1930–1933) players National Soccer Hall of Fame members 1972 deaths People from East Newark, New Jersey Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey