JIMMY RAE

Full Name: James Clarkson Rae

Born: 22 November 1907

1. Came from: Partick Thistle   Went to: Career interrupted by WW2

1. First game: 27 August 1932   Last game: 13 May 1940

2. Came from: Career interrupted by WW2   Went to: Appointed Assistant Manager

2. First game: 07 April 1945   Last game: 08 December 1945

Appearances: 287 (287/0)   Goals: 0

James Rae was a left-back and was born in the village of Skinflats, near Falkirk in Stirlingshire (see also the 'Your Contribution' note, below, for further details). He was an outstanding teenager who captained Scotland schoolboys and then began his senior football career with Stirlingshire side King's Park. At the age of 17, he signed as a part-time professional with the club, whilst continuing to complete his apprenticeship as an electrician. The club later became the modern-day Stirling Albion and Rae played for them from 1925 to 1929, appearing 145 times for the club, scoring three goals in the newly created Second Division of the Scottish Football League.

In 1929, he moved to Partick Thistle, where he stayed for three years. It was whilst at Thistle that he triggered a move to Home Park - along with striker John Simpson - after both impressed while playing for Thistle against Argyle in a benefit match for fellow Scot and Pilgrim, Alec Hardie, at Home Park. Rae would go on to be a success, whereas Simpson fared less well, lasting just a season, playing five times and scoring twice. Rae was also being courted by Rangers at the time, but was lured to the club via Bob Jack using photos of the region. Whilst he returned to Scotland after the Hardie benefit match, having not signed for Argyle, he had given Jack his word and whilst Rangers continued to prevaricate, he kept his word to Jack and duly signed. He later described Jack as 'one of the greatest managers in the game'. In total, he had played 88 times and scored twice for Thistle and had also picked up a Scottish Cup runner-up medal in 1929-30 after losing in the Final's replay to Rangers 2-1, at Hampden Park, after the initial game finished 0-0.

The defender that arrived in Devon was ahead of his time; always preferring to pass the ball away from danger rather than take the safety-first option of a hefty clearance - he was perhaps an Alan Hansen before Alan Hansen - another Partick defensive product, ironically, in later years. Rae's culture was offset by his 'hard man' partner, Harry Roberts, who played many games alongside him. In eight seasons, Rae made nearly 300 appearances in green, until the Second World War brought his career to a premature halt. In his time at the club, it was often felt he could and should have won full Scottish honours, to further his schoolboy captaincy, but the call never came, though he did end up on the reserve-list three times.

Remaining loyal to Argyle, Rae played four times in the Football League West Cup in the spring of 1945 and made two further appearances in the interim Football League South season of 1945-46.

He was then appointed as assistant manager, a role he filled until his elevation to the hot seat early in the 1947-48 season, taking over from Jack Tresadern, a post Rae would go on to hold for eight years. Although the club was relegated in 1949-50, he led Argyle to promotion to Division Two in 1951-52 and to their equal-highest finishing position of fourth in that Division in 1952-53.

Another legacy of his was that he was responsible for signing players of the calibre of Jack Chisholm, Neil Dougall and Gordon Astall, amongst others. Despite his successes, he also spent much of his managerial career fending off the threat of relegation and he was dismissed in January 1955. This brought to an end a remarkable twenty-year association with the club as player, assistant-manager and then manager. Argyle went for a big name to replace him, bringing in Jack Rowley as player-manager, initially, from Manchester United. Yet over five seasons, his record was not markedly better than Rae's.

Rae may have been watching on from afar, noting the very same. He had left Plymouth to manage a pub in Solihull, but sadly died in July 1958, just over three-and-a-half years after leaving the club, aged just 50 years old.