James Louis Bimpson (14 May 1929 – 13 November 2021) 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 ...

who played as a striker for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

during the 1950s. He notched up a good goalscoring record without ever being a first-team regular.

Life and playing career

Born in

Rainford Rainford is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England, north of St Helens. At the 2011 Census, the population was 7,779. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the earlies ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

(now in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

) in May 1929, Bimpson played for

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin ...

before Liverpool signed him in 1953. He made his debut two months later on 7 March in a league match at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. It was a day not to remember, however, as Aston Villa cruised to a convincing 4–0 victory over a struggling Reds side. His first goal came a month later on 3 April, again, in a league match, but this time at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

in a 2–1 victory over Cardiff City Bimpson's 19th-minute strike turned out to be the winner. Bimpson signed for the Reds just as the side was about to hit hard times, including being relegated to 2nd Division at the end of Bimpson's first full season at Anfield. Despite the team difficulties, Louis averaged a goal every other game, netting 12 in 24 appearances, including scoring twice in a 4–4 draw with rivals Manchester United at Anfield on 22 August, and netting four goals in a 4–0 home win against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

on 19 September 1953. The inside-right, who was just as comfortable as a centre-forward, didn't make that much of an impact in Liverpool's first season in the lower tier, playing just nine games and scoring two goals. The 1956–57 season was a better one for Bimpson, appearing in 21 games although he only managed six goals. The following campaign was another average one, but the 1958–59 campaign was the best season Louis had in the red of Liverpool. He started 16 games, netting a respectable 11 goals. Unfortunately, this was to be his last full season at Anfield. The following year,

Dave Hickson David Hickson (30 October 1929 – 8 July 2013) was an English professional footballer who played for Everton, Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Liverpool, Cambridge City, Bury and Tranmere Rovers Club career Hickson started his football ...

made the short journey across

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and ...

, from

rivals Everton, which reduced Bimpson's playing time. He struggled to hold down a regular spot, and only started five times. On 19 November 1959 he was allowed to leave and joined

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. Th ...

. Bimpson is probably best remembered for his time at Ewood Park, especially his first season as he scored in a 4–1 victory over Sunderland in the

1959–60 FA Cup The 1959–60 FA Cup was the 79th staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Wolverhampton Wanderers won the competition for the fourth time, beating Blackburn Ro ...

third round replay, and followed that with a brace in an impressive 3–1 win at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in round five. Rovers made it to the cup final that year with Bimpson in the side but they played well below their best on that day, as well as being reduced to ten men through injury, and lost 0–3 to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Bimpson went on to play for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

before dropping into non-league football with

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in 1963, where he scored twice in five Cheshire League games. He finished his career back at his first club Burscough as an amateur. Bimpson died on 13 November 2021, at the age of 92.

Honours

Blackburn Rovers *

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 ...

: runner-up 1959–60

References

External links

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bimpson, Louis 1929 births 2021 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Liverpool F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Rochdale A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players People from Rainford Footballers from Merseyside Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens