James Henry Cookson (28 January 1869 — 27 May 1922) was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 professional footballer. He played as a forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

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Playing career

Cookson began his career with South Shore, making his debut on 11 September 1886, before joining Burslem Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

 in late August 1887, along with his teammate Richard Elston. Cookson scored 23 goals in 33 friendlies for the Valiants, becoming their top scorer

Port Vale F.C. seasons

Port Vale F.C. is an English professional association football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, playing in Football League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system, as of the 2008–09 season. The club was formed in 1876, in 1884 they took the name Burslem Port...

 that season. Both Cookson and Elston returned to South Shore in the summer of 1888 and were members of the team that beat Fleetwood Rangers 6–1 to win the Fylde Cup in 1888.

He fell out with South Shore at the end of the 1889–90 season and signed with non-League Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 on 2 April. He made his debut for the Seasiders at the start of the following 1890–91 campaign, in a 5–1 defeat at Heywood Central on 6 September. By December, he had been re-signed for another season for fifteen shilling

Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

s a week.

In May 1892, he joined Accrington

Accrington F.C.

Accrington Football Club were an English football club from Accrington, Lancashire, who were one of the founder members of The Football League. Accrington F.C. was formed following a meeting at a local public house in 1876...

 (in part-exchange

Part exchange

A part exchange or part exchange deal is a type of contract. In a part exchange, instead of one party to the contract paying money and the other party supplying goods/services, both parties supply goods/services, the first party supplying part money and part goods/services.Whether a part exchange...

 for full-back Jerry Morgan) for £40. His first official game was against the club he had just left, on 1 September. Blackpool won 4–2. He went on to make a further 26 league appearances, scoring fourteen goals. He left when the club dropped out of the Football League.

In May 1893, he returned to Blackpool. His first comeback game for the club was against Accrington, a 3–1 victory on 2 September. He scored over twenty goals during the 1893–94 season.

He played his final game for Blackpool on 25 April 1896, in a 3–1 defeat to Darwen

Darwen F.C.

A.F.C. Darwen is a football club from Darwen in Lancashire, North West England. The team, formed in 1870 as Darwen F.C., currently play in the Division One of the North West Counties League. They play their home games at the Anchor Ground.-History:...

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Personal life

Outside of football, Cookson was a builder and contractor. His father, Thomas, had built, amongst other things, the Clifton Arms Hotel.

Cookson married Polly Castle at South Shore

South Shore, Blackpool

South Shore is the southern coastal area of Blackpool, an English seaside resort in the county of Lancashire. It has a large local community and a number of tourist attractions....

's Holy Trinity Church on 28 January 1895 and honeymoon

Honeymoon

-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...

ed later the same day in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

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Death

Cookson died on 27 May 1922, aged 53. He was survived by his widow, two sons and two daughters. He was buried at Layton cemetery. After his death, his widow became vice-chairman of South Shore, and one of his sons played for the club.