Jimmy Paterson

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Dr James "Jimmy" Paterson MC (May 9, 1891 – unknown) was a Scottish doctor and footballer.

Born in London but brought up in Glasgow, Paterson was on the books of both Rangers and Queen's Park as an amateur, whilst training as a doctor. With the outbreak of World War I he joined the London Scottish Regiment and served as a medical officer, winning the Military Cross for his bravery in action in France. After the war ended, he moved back to London to share a medical practice in Clapton with his brother-in-law, J. L. Scott, who was also the Arsenal team doctor. Paterson was persuaded to sign for Arsenal as an amateur, and made his debut on the left wing against Derby County on October 30, 1920.

Paterson became a regular fixture in the Arsenal side that season, and even played for an English League XI against a Scottish League XI, the first Scotsman to do so. However, he found himself ousted from the side in 1921-22, before returning to play over 20 games in both the 1922-23 and 1923-24 seasons. An anecdote by the Times columnist Brian Glanville recounted how once, when given a bunch of daffodils by a girl in the crowd for one match, Paterson played on the wing with them in his hand for several minutes before finding a place to put them.^[1]

He retired from football in the summer of 1924 to concentrate on his medical practice, only to make a surprise return to the Arsenal side two years later after being persuaded by Herbert Chapman. His final match was against Newcastle United on February 13, 1926, in which he scored his only ever league goal, in a 3-0 win. In all he made 77 appearances for Arsenal, scoring two goals.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4. 
• Joy, Bernard (1952). Forward Arsenal!. Phoenix House.