James Thomas S. Devlin (10 April 1903
[ – after 1935) was a Scottish 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 le ...
who made 17 appearances in the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
playing for Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
, Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...
, Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
and Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
. He 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 ...
.
Career
Devlin was born in Bellshill
Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...
, North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
. He began his football career with junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
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* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
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Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
clubs[ before moving into the ]Scottish League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...
, first with 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 ...
[ Record of pre-war Scottish League Players John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012] and then King's Park. He came to England to sign for Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
of the First Division in September 1924. Devlin played only twice for Birmingham, unable to dislodge Johnny Crosbie
John Crosbie (9 October 1895 – 1 February 1982) was a Scottish professional association football, footballer who played as an inside forward in the Scottish Football League for Ayr United F.C., Ayr United and made more than 400 appearances in ...
from the inside-right
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 ...
position, and in January 1926 joined Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
for a fee of £362. After only a few first-team games, Devlin was sold on to 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 popul ...
for £250,[ at the same time as his brother ]William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
joined from Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
. Unlike his brother, Tom Devlin failed to appear for Liverpool's first team, and moved on to Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...
12 months later.
Then followed appearances for clubs in several countries, including 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 ...
and Fall River
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
in the United States, FC Zürich
Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...
in Switzerland, and RC Roubaix
Racing Club de Roubaix was a French association football team that played in Roubaix, Nord.
History
The team was founded in 1895 and was very successful before the establishment of professionalism in France. In 1933, after losing twice in a ...
in France, interspersed with a return to Scotland with Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
,[ though again without appearing for the first team,] and several more English clubs,[ including further appearances in ]the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
with Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
and Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
.[ He retired from the game in about 1936, and died in his native Scotland.][
]
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Tom
1903 births
Year of death missing
Footballers from Bellshill
Scottish footballers
Association football inside forwards
Shawfield F.C. players
Kilsyth Rangers F.C. players
Third Lanark A.C. players
King's Park F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
Preston North End F.C. players
Liverpool F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Brooklyn Wanderers players
Aberdeen F.C. players
Walsall F.C. players
Fall River F.C. players
FC Zürich players
Fleetwood Town F.C. players
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
RC Roubaix players
Scottish Junior Football Association players
Scottish Football League players
English Football League players
American Soccer League (1921–1933) players
Ligue 2 players
Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate footballers in France
Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Expatriate footballers in Switzerland
Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Scottish expatriate footballers