James William Dickinson

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(25 April 1925 – 8 November 1982) was an English

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 ...

who played as a left half. Dickinson holds the record for number of league appearances for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

(764). Only

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional 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 the County Ground sin ...

's John Trollope (770) has made more appearances for a single club. He signed for

as a trainee and made his debut in 1946 against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. Settling into the side quickly at either wing-half or left-half, he was part of the team that won successive league championships in 1948–49 and 1949–50. His performances earned him a call-up to the England national team. He went on to win 48 caps for England, making him Portsmouth's most capped English player of all time. During his record 845 club appearances for Pompey and his 48 England caps he was never once booked or sent off, earning him the nickname 'Gentleman Jim'. As of 2022, he remains the only England player ever to have scored an own goal at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, scoring past his own goalkeeper in a 4–4 draw against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1954. Awarded the

for services to football in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

,United Kingdom list: he played his last match for Pompey a year later, helping Pompey to a 1–1 end-of-season draw at

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

that secured safety from relegation. And when he retired from playing, his association with the club continued. He served Pompey as public relations officer and then secretary before accepting the position of manager in May 1977. Relegation from the Third Division was avoided, but the next year Pompey dropped down a league. After three

heart attacks A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

, Dickinson died aged 57 in 1982. The famous 'Pompey Chimes' were played in St Mary's Church in

Fratton Fratton is a residential and formerly industrial area of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. Victorian style terraced houses are dominant in the area, typical of most residential areas of Portsmouth. Fratton has many discount shops and "greasy spoo ...

at a packed memorial service. He is buried in Alton Cemetery. In 1998, he was included on the list of 100 Legends produced to celebrate the centenary of the Football League. Dickinson's image can be seen in the seating in the Fratton End stand in Fratton Park. In his home town of Alton there is a pub named The Gentleman Jim and Dickinson Road in

was named in his honour.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Dickinson's image in Fratton Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickinson, Jimmy 1925 births 1982 deaths England international footballers English football managers English footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players 1954 FIFA World Cup players Portsmouth F.C. managers Portsmouth F.C. players English Football League players People from Alton, Hampshire English Football League representative players Association football wing halves Members of the Order of the British Empire