 Jimmy Douglas (3 September 1859 – 1919) was a Scottish
footballer who played in The Football League for Blackburn Rovers.
James (Jimmy) Douglas was born in Renfrew on 3rd September, 1859. A
talented footballer he played for Paisley Institution and Renfrew.
Although he only weighed 8 stones he had the ability to score and make
goals.
On 27th March 1880, Douglas won an international cap
playing for Scotland against Wales. Scotland won 5-1 but it was the last
time he played for his country as later that year he joined Blackburn
Rovers. At that time Scotland did not select men playing in England.
Two other Scottish players, Fergie Suter and Hugh McIntyre, also
joined at this time. However, the team also included some of the men who
originally formed the team in 1875 such as Fred Hargreaves, John
Hargreaves and Doctor Greenwood.
In 1882, Blackburn became the
first provincial team to reach the final of the FA Cup. Their opponents
was Old Etonians who had reached the final on five previous occasions.
However, Blackburn had gone through the season unbeaten and was expected
to become the first northern team to win win the game. Doctor Greenwood
was injured the team included five players who had won international
caps, Jimmy Douglas, Fred Hargreaves, John Hargreaves, Hugh McIntyre and
Jimmy Brown.
The Old Etonians scored after eight minutes and
despite creating a great number of chances, Blackburn was unable to
obtain an equalizer in the first-half. Early in the second-half George
Avery was seriously injured and Blackburn Rovers was reduced to ten men.
Despite good efforts by Jimmy Brown, Jack Hargreaves and John Duckworth,
Rovers were unable to score.
Blackburn Rovers did even better in
that year's Lancashire Cup. After victories against Accrington Wanderers
(7-0), Church (6-0) they beat Blackburn Olympic 6-1 in the semi-final.
Blackburn won the cup by beating Accrington 3-1 in the final.
The
following year Blackburn Rovers were in favourites to win the FA Cup.
However, an injury hit Rovers were beaten 1-0 in the second round by
local rivals Darwen. The Blackburn Times reported that this was a major
surprise as the "play was so much in the Rovers' favour that Howorth
(the goalkeeper) never handled the ball throughout the match." The
defeat was made worse when the town's other main football club,
Blackburn Olympic, became the first northern team to win the cup by
beating Old Etonians in the final.
In the 1883-84 season
Blackburn Rovers added another outsider into the team. John Inglis, a
Scottish international, had recently been playing for Glasgow Rangers.
The Blackburn Times reported: "There is one point about Blackburn Rovers
that does not give entire satisfaction and this is the introduction of
Inglis of the Glasgow Rangers. It is "hard lines" on Sowerbutts or
whoever else is supplanted, that after the faithful services of the past
he should be pushed out in this manner, and besides that there is a
class of people in the town who would rather lose the Cup on their
merits than win it with the aid of a specially introduced stranger." In
fact, Joe Sowerbutts, a local lad, had emerged as one of the stars of
the team, and retained his place alongside Inglis.
After
Blackburn Rovers beat Notts County in the semi-final of the FA Cup, the
club made an official complaint to the Football Association that John
Inglis was a professional player. The FA carried out an investigation
into the case discovered that Inglis was working as a mechanic in
Glasgow and was not earning a living playing football for Blackburn
Rovers.
John Inglis played in the final against Queens Park at
outside left. Jimmy Douglas was at outside right with other Scots,
Fergie Suter at left-back and Hugh McIntyre at centre-half. The Scottish
club scored the first goal but Blackburn Rovers won the game with goals
from Blackburn lads, James Forrest and Joe Sowerbutts.
In
January, 1884, Preston North End played the London side, Upton Park, in
the FA Cup. After the game Upton Park complained to the Football
Association that Preston was a professional, rather than an amateur
team. Major William Sudell, the secretary/manager of Preston North End,
admitted that his players were being paid but argued that this was
common practice and did not breach regulations. However, the Football
Association disagreed and expelled them from the competition.
Blackburn Rovers, who denied they were paying their players, beat Old
Carthusians 5-0 in the semi-final of the FA Cup. Once again they had to
play Queens Park in the final. Blackburn Rovers was now a team full of
internationals. This included Jimmy Douglas, Hugh McIntyre, James
Forrest, Herbie Arthur, Joseph Lofthouse and Jimmy Brown. A crowd in
excess of 12,000 arrived at the Oval to see the what most people
believed were the best two clubs in England and Scotland. With goals
from Brown and Forrest, Blackburn Rovers won 2-0.
At the end of
the 1883-84 season Preston North End joined forces with other clubs who
were paying their players, such as Aston Villa and Sunderland. In
October, 1884, these clubs threatened to form a break-away British
Football Association. The Football Association responded by establishing
a sub-committee, which included William Sudell, to look into this issue.
On 20th July, 1885, the FA announced that it was "in the interests of
Association Football, to legalise the employment of professional
football players, but only under certain restrictions". Clubs were
allowed to pay players provided that they had either been born or had
lived for two years within a six-mile radius of the ground.
Blackburn Rovers immediately registered as a professional club. Their
accounts show that they spent a total of £615 on the payment of wages
during the 1885-86 season. Despite the fact that clubs could now openly
pay their players, Blackburn Rovers continued to dominate English
football. They reached the 1885 FA Cup Final by beating Darwen Old
Wanders (6-1), Staveley (7-1), Brentwood (3-1) and Swifts (2-1) Seven of
the Blackburn Rovers team were appearing in their third successive
final, whereas Jimmy Douglas, Hugh McIntyre, Fergie Suter and Jimmy
Brown were playing in their fourth final in five season. The game
against West Bromwich Albion at the Oval ended in a 0-0 draw.
The
replay took place at the Racecourse Ground, Derby. A goal by Joe
Sowerbutts gave Blackburn Rovers an early lead. In the second-half James
Brown collected the ball in his own area, took the ball past several WBA
players, ran the length of the field and scored one of the best goals
scored in a FA Cup final. Blackburn Rovers now joined the Wanderers in
achieving three successive cup final victories.
The decision by
the Football Association to allow clubs to pay their players increased
their out-goings. It was therefore necessary to arrange more matches
that could be played in front of large crowds. In March, 1888, William
McGregor, a director of Aston Villa, circulated a letter suggesting that
"ten or twelve of the most prominent clubs in England combine to arrange
home and away fixtures each season." The following month the Football
League was formed. It consisted of six clubs from Lancashire (Blackburn
Rovers, Preston North End, Accrington, Burnley and Everton) and six from
the Midlands (Aston Villa, Derby County, Notts County, Stoke, West
Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). The main reason Sunderland
was excluded was because the other clubs in the league objected to the
costs of travelling to the North-East.
The first season of the
Football League began in September, 1888. Preston North End won the
first championship that year without losing a single match and acquired
the name the "Invincibles". Blackburn Rovers, who had lost most of their
best players to retirement, finished in 4th place, 14 points behind
Preston.
At the beginning of the 1889-90 season Tom Mitchell, the
club secretary, recruited four top players from Scotland: Tom Brandon,
Johnny Forbes, George Dewar and Harry Campbell. A local lad, Nathan
Walton was also drafted into the side. Other key players that season
included Joseph Lofthouse and Jack Southworth.
Douglas now found
it difficult to get into the team and missed Blackburn's 1890 FA Cup
Final victory over Sheffield Wednesday. Douglas played in 31 Football
League games before leaving the club in 1891. |
