James Mitchell (footballer)
Encyclopedia
James Frederick Mitchell, also known as Jim Mitchell, and sometimes Fred Mitchell, (18 November 1897 – 30 May 1975) was an English
footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a goalkeeper. Mitchell played professionally for five different clubs - Blackpool
, Northern Nomads
, Preston North End
, Manchester City
and Leicester City
- across two different leagues - the Football League
and Lancashire Combination
. Mitchell played in the 1922 FA Cup Final
and also earned one cap for the England national side
in 1924.
on 18 November 1897, and he attended Arnold Grammar School and Manchester University
.
, Northern Nomads
, Preston North End
, Manchester City
and Leicester City
. Mitchell played in leagues including the Football League
and Lancashire Combination
. He started his career with Football League outfit Blackpool, joining them in the 1914–15 season at the age of 17. He played five league matches for the club, deputising for Jimmy Kidd
. He made his debut in a goalless draw against Lincoln City
at Bloomfield Road
on 20 March. Fred Thompson stood in for three matches, before Mitchell returned to the team for the final four games.
Mitchell's career was interrupted by the First World War. He played for Blackpool in the first nine games of the 1915–16, in the Principal Competition, Lancashire Section, after which Kidd took over for the remaining 27 games. After the war, he joined Northern Nomads who played in the Lancashire Combination.
Mitchell returned to the Football League when he was signed by Preston North End in 1920. In his first season with the club, he played just seven matches, five of them in the league. In the following season, he made 16 league appearances and played six FA Cup
matches including the 1922 FA Cup Final
, which was held on 29 April 1922 at London
's Stamford Bridge
stadium. Preston North End, playing against Huddersfield Town
, lost the match 1–0, after Billy Smith
scored a penalty in the 67th minute. Mitchell wore spectacles
in the match.
Mitchell left Preston in 1922 to join Manchester City and between 1922 and 1926, he played a total of 109 games for Manchester City, 99 of them in the Football League. He played 17 times in the league as Manchester City were relegated to the Football League Second Division
at the end of the 1925–26 campaign. After leaving the club in 1926, Mitchell spent one season with Leicester City
. However, he failed to make a first team appearance for the club, and retired from professional football in 1927.
on 22 October 1924, in a game against Ireland; England ran out as 3–1 victors. The match, which was held at the Goodison Park
stadium in Liverpool
, was part of the 1925 British Home Championship
. Mitchell also wore spectacles in that game, and to date he remains the only player capped for England while wearing spectacles.
Mitchell also represented Great Britain
at the 1920 Summer Olympics
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a goalkeeper. Mitchell played professionally for five different clubs - 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...
, Northern Nomads
Northern Nomads F.C.
Northern Nomads F.C. was an English football club based in the Manchester area. Established around 1862, they were known as the "Nomads" or "Roaming Brigade" as they never possessed a home ground.-History:...
, Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
, Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
- across two different leagues - the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
and Lancashire Combination
Lancashire Combination
The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League...
. Mitchell played in the 1922 FA Cup Final
1922 FA Cup Final
The 1922 FA Cup Final was contested by Huddersfield Town and Preston North End at Stamford Bridge. Huddersfield won by a single goal, a penalty scored by Billy Smith....
and also earned one cap for the England national side
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
in 1924.
Early life
James Frederick Mitchell was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
on 18 November 1897, and he attended Arnold Grammar School and Manchester University
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
.
Professional career
Mitchell spent time with a number of different clubs including BlackpoolBlackpool 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...
, Northern Nomads
Northern Nomads F.C.
Northern Nomads F.C. was an English football club based in the Manchester area. Established around 1862, they were known as the "Nomads" or "Roaming Brigade" as they never possessed a home ground.-History:...
, Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
, Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
. Mitchell played in leagues including the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
and Lancashire Combination
Lancashire Combination
The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League...
. He started his career with Football League outfit Blackpool, joining them in the 1914–15 season at the age of 17. He played five league matches for the club, deputising for Jimmy Kidd
Jimmy Kidd
James "Jimmy" Kidd was a footballer who played in the Football League for Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers and Derby County.-Blackpool:...
. He made his debut in a goalless draw against Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
at Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is an all-seater football stadium in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire. It has been the permanent home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901 and is named after the road on which the stadium's main entrance used to stand. The stadium has been in a process of redevelopment since 2000...
on 20 March. Fred Thompson stood in for three matches, before Mitchell returned to the team for the final four games.
Mitchell's career was interrupted by the First World War. He played for Blackpool in the first nine games of the 1915–16, in the Principal Competition, Lancashire Section, after which Kidd took over for the remaining 27 games. After the war, he joined Northern Nomads who played in the Lancashire Combination.
Mitchell returned to the Football League when he was signed by Preston North End in 1920. In his first season with the club, he played just seven matches, five of them in the league. In the following season, he made 16 league appearances and played six FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
matches including the 1922 FA Cup Final
1922 FA Cup Final
The 1922 FA Cup Final was contested by Huddersfield Town and Preston North End at Stamford Bridge. Huddersfield won by a single goal, a penalty scored by Billy Smith....
, which was held on 29 April 1922 at 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...
's Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
stadium. Preston North End, playing against Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
, lost the match 1–0, after Billy Smith
Billy Smith (footballer born 1895)
William Henry "Billy" Smith was a professional footballer who played most of his career at Huddersfield Town....
scored a penalty in the 67th minute. Mitchell wore spectacles
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
in the match.
Mitchell left Preston in 1922 to join Manchester City and between 1922 and 1926, he played a total of 109 games for Manchester City, 99 of them in the Football League. He played 17 times in the league as Manchester City were relegated to the Football League Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
at the end of the 1925–26 campaign. After leaving the club in 1926, Mitchell spent one season with Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
. However, he failed to make a first team appearance for the club, and retired from professional football in 1927.
International career
While playing for Manchester City, Mitchell earned one international cap for the England national sideEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
on 22 October 1924, in a game against Ireland; England ran out as 3–1 victors. The match, which was held at the Goodison Park
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium located in Walton, Liverpool, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds...
stadium in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, was part of the 1925 British Home Championship
1925 British Home Championship
The 1925 British Home Championship was a football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1924/25 season. It was one of six tournaments in seven years won by the strong Scottish team of the early 1920s, and was achieved with a whitewash of all three rivals, including England...
. Mitchell also wore spectacles in that game, and to date he remains the only player capped for England while wearing spectacles.
Mitchell also represented Great Britain
United Kingdom national football team
No United Kingdom national football team currently exists, as there are separate teams representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in football. These national teams compete in the World Cup and European Championships and other internationals. A UK team has played in friendly...
at the 1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
.