James Ellison (17 March 1901 – 5 January 1958) was an English 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 lea ...

who played as a full-back for various clubs, including

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, in the 1920s.

Football career

Ellison was born in St Helens, Lancashire and played his early football as an amateur with St Helens YMCA,

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

, Rotherham County and Rhyl United before he moved to the south coast to join

in May 1927. After a satisfactory trial period, Ellison signed a professional contract in October 1927. He spent most of his time with the Saints in the reserves, making 59 appearances in his year at The Dell. His only first-team appearance came on 10 March 1928, when he took the place of

Arthur Bradford Arthur Houston Bradford (born November 19, 1969) is an American writer and filmmaker. He has published two books of short stories, ''Dogwalker'' (2001) and ''Turtleface and Beyond'' (2015), and a children's book, ''Benny's Brigade'' (2012). He h ...

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for the game against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

; the match was lost 2–1. In the summer of 1928, Ellison returned to

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

to join

for whom he made 16 appearances in the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

, before winding up his career back in Wales with

Connah's Quay Connah's Quay (), known locally as "The Quay" and formerly known as Wepre, is a town and community in Flintshire, on the River Dee and next to the border with England. With a population of 16,771, it is the largest town in Flintshire. The ...

Later career

After retiring from football, he returned to St Helens, where he worked for Forster's Glass Company, playing occasionally for the works team.

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, James 1901 births 1958 deaths Men's association football defenders Connah's Quay & Shotton F.C. players English Football League players English men's footballers Footballers from St Helens, Merseyside Rhyl F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Rotherham County F.C. players Southampton F.C. players St Helens Town A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen