Jimmy McCambridge

Jimmy McCambridge
Personal information
Full nameJames McCambridge
Date of birthSeptember 23, 1905
Place of birthLarne, Ireland
Date of death1988
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing positionStriker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1928–1930Ballymena United
1930Everton0(0)
1930–1933Cardiff City95(51)
1933–1935Bristol Rovers58(23)
1935–1936Exeter City23(14)
1936–1937Sheffield Wednesday2(0)
1937–1938Hartlepools United16(4)
1938–1939Cheltenham Town
National team
1930–1931Ireland4(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

James "Jimmy" McCambridge (23 September 1905 – 1988) was an Irish professional footballer. He was capped 4 times by Ireland during his career.

Career

Jimmy began his career in his home country of Ireland playing for Larne and Ballymena United. In his first season at Ballymena scored the winner in the Irish Cup final against Belfast Celtic and on 1 February 1930 he became the first Ballymena player to be capped at international level when he played in a 7-0 win over Wales.

In September 1930, McCambridge moved to England joining Everton. However he spent just three months at Goodison Park, making one appearance in place of Dixie Dean in a 3-0 win over Bradford City in the FA Cup. He left the club in December to sign for Cardiff City, scoring twice on his debut the following month in January 1931 during a 3-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion. He finished the season with 9 goals, including a hat-trick against Stoke City. His first full season at the club the next year yielded a total of 28 goals in all competitions and, with 26 of the goals scored in the league, he broke the club record of league goals scored in a single season set by Hughie Ferguson four years earlier by one. His record stood for 15 years until it was broken by Stan Richards in the 1946-47 season.

The following season, McCambridge was unable to match his goalscoring feat of the previous year but still finished as the club's top scorer with 18 goals in all competitions. Despite finishing as Cardiff's top scorer in his two full seasons at Ninian Park, as well as winning the final two Ireland caps of his career in matches against Wales and England, he was allowed to leave in 1933 to join Bristol Rovers. He moved around several times in the following years, playing at Exeter City, Sheffield Wednesday, Hartlepool United before finishing his career at Cheltenham Town in the Southern League.[1]

References

  1. "Jimmy McCambridge" NIfootball.com Retrieved on 10 June 2009