Sir James Kirkpatrick, 8th Baronet (22 March 1841 – 10 November 1899) was the 8th Kirkpatrick Baronet of Closeburn,

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

. In his youth he was a keen sportsman, and helped organise the Scottish football team in the representative matches between March 1870 and February 1872. He also played in

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

for the Wanderers when they won the

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 ...

1878 Events January–March * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Bat ...

Family and professional career

Kirkpatrick was born in Canada, the second son of Sir Charles Sharpe Kirkpatrick, 6th Baronet and Helen Stuart Kirk. His father died in 1867 at which time his brother, Thomas, succeeded to the title; Thomas died childless in 1880 and the title passed to James. He was educated privately before joining the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

as a clerk where he progressed to become Private Secretary to

Lord George Hamilton Lord George Francis Hamilton (17 December 1845 – 22 September 1927) was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for India. Backgroun ...

, the

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

. He married Mary Steward of Peckham, Surrey on 24 April 1872 and they had six children: * Josephine Mary Kirkpatrick (1873–1948) * Charles Sharpe Kirkpatrick (1874–1937) who succeeded his father as the 9th Baronet. * Harry Fearnley Kirkpatrick (1876–1918), Lt. Colonel in The

East Kent Regiment The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

(3rd Foot), who was killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. * Margaret Hope Kirkpatrick (1878–1945) * Yvone Kirkpatrick (1879–1924), worked for the political service in Nigeria. * Athole Kirkpatrick (1885–1917), 2nd Lieutenant in The East Kent Regiment (3rd Foot), who was also killed in the First World War. Kirkpatrick died at the family home in Forest Hill, Kent on 10 November 1899, aged 58.

Football career

Kirkpatrick was a member of the Civil Service Football Club and also of the Wanderers. His first Wanderers appearance came on 2 February 1867 in a 1–0 defeat by C.C.C. on

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of g ...

; the team sheet for that match also includes a "C. Kirkpatrick", possibly his younger brother Charles. He became a frequent member of the Wanderers XI, making a total of 58 appearances over the next 11 years, generally as

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 o ...

although he played occasionally as an outfield player, even scoring two goals, against Forest Club in 1870 and

Gitanos The Romani in Spain, generally known by the exonym () or the endonym ''Calé'', belong to the Iberian Cale Romani subgroup, with smaller populations in Portugal (known as ) and in Southern France. Their sense of identity and cohesion stems f ...

in 1876. In the ''

Football Annual __NOTOC__ The ''Football Annual'' was a reference work published annually from 1868 to 1908. It reported on the various codes of football played in England, and also provided some coverage of the other home nations, supplemented on occasion by r ...

'' for 1875, he was described as "a goalkeeper hois always excellent, and Surrey owes much to him in that position" while the 1879 edition said that he was "a very useful goalkeeper; fields well, and does not lose his head". Other editions described him as "a useful player all round, a good back and excellent goalkeeper". By 1874, he was chiefly known as a goalkeeper, whose "flying days erenumbered in the past". In 1870, he helped Arthur Kinnaird to organise the Scottish team to play against England in the first of the series of international football matches. The Scotsmen were all based in London and the Home Counties. The advertisement placed in the ''Sportsman'' newspaper stated:

A match between the leading representatives of the Scotch and English sections will be played at The Oval on Saturday 19 February, under the auspices of the Football Association. Players duly qualified and desirous of assisting either party must communicate with Mr AF Kinnaird of 2 Pall Mall East, SW or Mr J Kirkpatrick, Admiralty, Somerset House, WC on behalf of the Scotch, or with Mr Charles W Alcock, Boy Court, Ludgate Hill, EC or Mr RG Graham, 7 Finch Lane, EC on the part of the English.

For the inaugural international match, Kirkpatrick was Scotland's goalkeeper and captain. The Scots opened the scoring with a quarter of an hour to play after England's goalkeeper was moved upfield thus allowing Robert Crawford to score with a shot from distance. England fought back to score through Alfred Baker to salvage a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

a minute from the end of the game. Kirkpatrick retained his place for the next three international matches, being captain again in the second. Although he had first played for the Wanderers in 1867, he was rarely available for their

ties. He was, however, an "umpire" for the first FA Cup Final in 1872. In 1877–78, he played in every round helping Wanderers to reach

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

where they met a team from the Royal Engineers. The final was played at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

on 23 March 1878, the day after Kirkpatrick's 37th birthday. In the match, Kirkpatrick suffered a broken arm after fifteen minutes during a tussle on the goal-line; despite his injury, he managed to keep the ball out of the goal, and went on to play the remainder of the match despite his injury. Wanderers won the match 3–1 in their last appearance in the Final, thus claiming the trophy for the fifth time in seven years. The 1878 FA Cup Final was Kirkpatrick's final appearance for the Wanderers. He also represented Surrey and served on

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

committee from 1869 to 1872.

Cricket career

Kirkpatrick also played cricket for the Civil Service, Lansdown and Chiswick & Turnham Green clubs between 1863 and 1879 and played for the Gentlemen of the South in a first-class match against the Gentlemen of the North in July 1867 taking three wickets as his side claimed an eight wicket victory.

References

External links

Wanderers Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, James 1841 births 1899 deaths People from Dumfries and Galloway Scottish footballers England v Scotland representative footballers (1870–1872) Wanderers F.C. players Scottish cricketers British civil servants Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Gentlemen of the South cricketers Association football goalkeepers FA Cup Final players