JIMMY KIRKPATRICK

Full Name: James Nodwell Kirkpatrick

Born: 30 November 1887

1. Came from: Dumfries   Went to: Career interrupted by WW1

1. First game: 16 September 1911   Last game: 24 April 1915

2. Came from: Career interrupted by WW1   Went to: Torquay United

2. First game: 01 September 1919   Last game: 29 March 1924

Appearances: 194 (194/0)   Goals: 10

Kirkpatrick was born in Dumfries in south west Scotland in 1887 and began his career with his home town club, Dumfries, who were one of three clubs in the area (the other two being the 5th King's Own Scottish Borderers & car manufacturer work's side, Arrol-Johnston) who later merged to form the present day Queen of the South.

In 1911 he became a Bob Jack signing after one of his many forays to Scotland and joined Argyle for what would be nine seasons with the club, either side of World War I (WWI). A consistent performer at outside-right, he was a regular member of the first team until hostilities broke out in 1914. The 1913-14 club handbook memorably stated of Kirkpatrick: "A model wing player, possessed of speed, cleverness and daring. Admits he isn't big, but says he is made of the right stuff, and is proud of Dumfries, which we believe is in Scotland."

During the war he worked at, and played for, the Devonport Dockyard before returning to Home Park at the end of the conflict. Over the next five seasons he found his first team opportunities increasingly limited, particularly following the arrival of Patsy Corcoran. In total Kirkpatrick played 194 times for the club, scoring 10 times, mostly at Southern League level. This was a total which would surely have been at least doubled were it not for the conflict robbing him of some of his best years. His last 40 appearances for the club, however, were in the Football League.

Kirkpatrick played in Argyle's first Football League game, a home match against Norwich City on 28th August 1920, and was involved in the build-up to Jimmy Heeps' goal, which was the club's first in the Football League. In the build-up to taking a first-half lead, a corner taken by Jimmy was aimed towards Heeps who hit the underside of the crossbar from close range. It appeared the ball had crossed the line and there were prolonged appeals. Some reports suggest that the net had rippled yet the referee was adamant with his decision to award a second corner. This time he played the ball short to Arthur Dixon, and his low delivery caused confusion in the Canaries' penalty area during which Heeps pounced to score - for definite this time - Argyle's first League goal.

In 1924, he then followed former Argyle team-mate Harry Raymond, who had become the new Torquay United player-manager, to Plainmoor, where he ended his career back in the Southern League. Appearance data for his time at Torquay isn't recorded but he had stopped playing by the 1927-28 season when they were then elected to the Football League, to replace Aberdare Athletic.

Without a club and ostensibly to stave off initial unemployment he was offered a job on the Argyle groundstaff in the 1930s. He remained living in Devon and by the 1939 England & Wales Register (a census-like record taken near the start of WWII) had him living in Plympton whilst working as an Engineer's Fitter, which would have probably placed him back in the Dockyard in all likelihood, where he had formerly worked during the intervention of WWI, whilst at Argyle.

A death record for James Nodwell Kirkpatrick exists, which matches his date of birth (and helped by that distinct middle name), in the Plymouth District registration area for Q3 (Jul-Aug-Sep) 1971. Given his month of birth is later than September, this means he died locally in Plymouth, aged 83 years old. Jimmy had lived for exactly 60 years in the city where he had spent the majority of his professional footballing career, and came to call 'home' despite his proud Scottish origins.