James Robert Richardson (8 February 1911 – 28 August 1964) was an English

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 ...

, best known for his time playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Club career

Richardson joined Newcastle in April 1928 from

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

, making his debut at home to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

on 4 September 1929, Richardson played in the

1932 FA Cup Final The 1932 FA Cup Final was contested by Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United and Arsenal F.C., Arsenal at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley Stadium in what became known as the "Over The Line" final. Newcastle won 2–1, both of their goals scored ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, in what became known as the "Over The Line" final. While United were 1–0 down, Richardson chased a ball down the wing to the goal line and crossed it to teammate Jack Allen who scored. The referee ruled that the ball had not gone out of play, even though photographic evidence later showed that the ball had actually crossed the line, and the goal stood. Newcastle later scored a second to win the game 2–1. The event is often cited as an example by those who believe video replays should be used in matches to help referees make decisions. In March 2003 his medal from that game sold for £6,462 in an auction at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

. In October 1934, Richardson joined

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

for a fee of £4,000. He returned to Newcastle United in 1937 and later played for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

and

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

before retiring.

International career

He earned two caps for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, both in May 1933, against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

After football

After hanging up his boots, Richardson served as an assistant trainer with his last club, Leyton Orient, becoming a trainer between June 1951 and June 1955. He then became the assistant trainer at Millwall beginning in November 1956 but was compelled to retire on health grounds soon after. On 28 August 1964, he died aged 53, at a hospital in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Char ...

after an illness.

Honours

Newcastle United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 1931–32

References

1911 births 1964 deaths English footballers Sportspeople from Ashington Footballers from Northumberland English Football League players Association football forwards Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players England international footballers English Football League representative players FA Cup Final players {{England-footy-forward-1910s-stub