James Dunn (23 October 1922 – 7 February 2005) 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 lea ...

who played as a right full back for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

Playing career

Born in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, Scotland, Dunn served in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was spotted by a

scout while playing for his local

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

team,

Rutherglen Glencairn Rutherglen Glencairn Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. Nicknamed ''The Glens'' and formed in 1896, they play at The Hamish B Allan Stadium (New Southcroft Park). Glencairn currently ...

, and joined the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

club in June 1947, aged 24. He made his debut in November 1947, and in the following season made the

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

position his own, staying in the team for the next ten seasons. The swift, hard-tackling Dunn was a key player for both manager Frank Buckley and his successor,

Raich Carter Horatio Stratton "Raich" Carter (21 December 1913 – 9 October 1994) was an English sportsman who played football for Sunderland, Derby County and Hull City, as well as representing England on thirteen occasions. He also played first-class c ...

; the defensive line of Dunn,

Grenville Hair Kenneth Grenville Arthur Hair (16 November 1931 – 7 March 1968) was a footballer who played his entire professional career for Leeds United between 1948 and 1964. He later became the manager of Wellington Town and Bradford City. He died of a ...

, Eric Kerfoot and

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Defender (association football), centre-back for Leeds. He was part of the England ...

was a key component in Leeds' promotion to Division One in 1955–56. The Leeds team of the time was built around

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh association football, footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and Juventus FC, Ju ...

, who rated Dunn highly, describing him as "one of the best full-backs I ever played with... at tackling and covering he was unbelievable. Very fit, strong and hard." Dunn was widely considered one of the finest players in his position never to have played for his country. When Carter was replaced as manager by

Bill Lambton William Lambton (2 December 1914 – 16 September 1976) was an English football player and manager. He played in goal for Nottingham Forest, Exeter City and Doncaster Rovers, although he made just three Football League appearances in total with ...

in 1959, his methods were so unpopular that he caused a players' rebellion in which Kerfoot and Dunn were to the fore. Both players left Leeds, with Dunn going to

and then

. In the twilight of his career he suffered a knee injury which eventually forced his retirement. Between 1947 and 1959 he made 443 appearances for Leeds, and scored one goal. In a poll of the 100 greatest ever Leeds United players, Dunn was voted in at number 73.

Later life

After retiring from football, Dunn worked as a milkman, and then later at the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, where he was driver's mate and a sorter until his retirement. He settled in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and raised his family in the city, where he died in 2005, aged 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Jimmy 1922 births 2005 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Rutherglen Men's association football defenders Rutherglen Glencairn F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players Royal Marines personnel of World War II Royal Marines ranks Military personnel from South Lanarkshire 20th-century Scottish sportsmen