James Paul Holmes (born 11 November 1953) is an Irish former 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 ...

. Hailing from Meath Square in

The Liberties The Liberties ( or occasionally ) is an area in central Dublin, Ireland, located in the southwest of the inner city. Formed from various areas of special manorial jurisdiction, initially separate from the main city government, it is one of Dub ...

, he won 30 full international caps for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, scoring once.

Career

Holmes, a left-back, began his career with St. John Bosco. He joined

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

as apprentice and was a member of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

Final side in 1970. He turned professional in November 1970 and became the Republic of Ireland's youngest ever full international at 17 years, 200 days when he came on as a 74th-minute substitute for

Don Givens Daniel Joseph "Don" Givens (born 9 August 1949) is an Irish former footballer and coach. A forward, Givens played club football for Manchester United, Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City, AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Neu ...

in the 4–1 defeat in the European Championship Qualifier against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

on 30 May 1971. He made his league debut later that year in the home game against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 4 December and gradually established himself in the Coventry first team. In March 1977, after 8 goals in 143 games for Coventry, he moved to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

for a fee of £120,000. A broken leg ended his career at White Hart Lane after 92 games, in which he scored twice. While on international duty, Jimmy broke his leg and complications arose in the setting of the leg. In February 1981, the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

purchased his contract for £100,000. However, he played only seventeen games over two seasons. During this time he made one final appearance in the Irish national side. In October 1982 he returned to the UK, joining

on a free transfer, but played only twice before a free transfer took him to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in February 1983. A month later, another free transfer took him to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

, Holmes playing 25 games (3 goals) for

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a British football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in ...

's side. In November 1983 he moved to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, scoring 7 times in 60 games before ending his league career. He enjoyed a testimonial match in 1985 at

, when an Irish XI beat a

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and TNT Sports. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

XI. He later became a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

in the Midlands and works as a chauffeur. As a police officer, he was once called into duty again while on police duty at Coventry City's Highfield Road. When one of the players for a testimonial did not show, Jimmy stepped into the fray. In August 2007 he was formally commended for his bravery in July 2006.

References

External links

Tottenham Hotspur: Jimmy Holmes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Jimmy 1953 births Living people Officers in English police forces Brentford F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Leicester City F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Association footballers from Dublin (city) Peterborough United F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Torquay United F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Men's association football fullbacks Nuneaton Town F.C. players Leicester United F.C. players Hitchin Town F.C. players Bedworth United F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. managers Hitchin Town F.C. managers Bedworth United F.C. managers National League (English football) players National League (English football) managers Isthmian League players Isthmian League managers Southern Football League players Southern Football League managers Peterborough United F.C. non-playing staff Republic of Ireland association football managers English Football League players 20th-century Irish sportsmen