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| Jimmy Richmond |
 James Hart Richmond was born on Saturday, 12th December, 1903, in Auchinleck, East Ayrshire. The 5' 8½ (11st 10lbs) midfielder signed for George Easton's Thistle on Tuesday, 27th January, 1925, having most recently been with Kello Rovers. Aged 21, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 2nd May, 1925, in a 2-1 win (aet) away to Celtic in the Glasgow Charity Cup. Jimmy scored his first goal for Thistle on Monday, 3rd January, 1927, in a 4-1 defeat at home to Rangers in the SFL First Division. He scored the last of his 3 goals on Saturday, 23rd February, 1929, in a 2-2 draw away to Hamilton Academical in the SFL First Division. He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 16th March, 1929, in a 3-1 win away to Ayr United in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 84 occasions. His club-list included Kello Rovers, Partick Thistle, Morton, Luton Town, Cork, Linfield and Larne. Jimmy died on Thursday, 26th October, 1967, in Troon, South Ayrshire, aged 63. |
 The son of John Richmond and Rebecca Richmond (née Stirling). Jimmy was a right half who spent just over 5 seasons with Thistle where he made his name and set himself up for a decent career in the game. 4 months after signing, George Easton gave him his first run out in the end-of-season Charity Cup tie with Celtic in May, 1925. Despite the fine 2-1 victory at Parkhead it wasn't until October when the 21-year-old Jimmy got his first League start, although the Jags went down by 3 goals to nil at Tynecastle. Jimmy did enough to impress though and, although he was never an 'ever-present' he appeared regularly in the first team every season from theron. Jimmy played his part in the brilliant run to the Scottish Cup semi-finals in early 1927, playing in every round as the clean-sheet wins over Stenhousemuir (3-0), Clyde (1-0) and Dundee United (5-0) were followed by the heartbreak of the 2-1 semi-final loss to second tier East Fife in front of 40,000 at Tynecastle. Several weeks later, Jimmy and Thistle did their best to make it up to the Firhill faithful, winning the Glasgow Charity Cup for the very first time. In a sensational final at Hampden in May '27, Thistle defeated Rangers by 6 goals to 3 and Sandy Hair wrote himself into the history books as the only player ever to have scored 5 goals against Rangers in a single competitive match. Jimmy added a second gold medal to his collection 18 months later as, once again, the Rangers were defeated in a Hampden final, this time by 2 goals to nil in the one-off Glasgow Dental Cup. Thistle finished 6th in the League, so 1928-29 was a fine campaign for him to finish on. For whatever reason, he was placed on the 'open to transfer' list for season 1929-30 and, in December 1929, Morton came in for him on a loan deal for the rest of that season. Luton manager George Kay signed Jimmy in July 1930, but he struggled to adapt to the English game, making only 2 League appearances in the Third Division South, and spending most of the season in the reserves. Determined to experience differing footballing environments, Jimmy sailed for Ireland in 1931 and landed in the deep south for a season-long deal at big-budget Cork. He had an enjoyable time in the League of Ireland, 'The Tractors' finishing runners-up to Shamrock Rovers. In May 1932, Jimmy assisted Linfield against Belfast Celtic in the Charity Cup final, and, although they lost, he formally joined the club during that summer. He spent two full seasons there before taking on the role of player-manager with Larne in the summer of 1934. Brilliantly, he took the club all the way to the Northern Irish Cup final, eventually losing to 1-0 Glentoran in the second replay after two scoreless draws. He was a popular manager at Larne, and did well to wheel and deal in the transfer market, although it always seemed to be a losing battle. He eventually resigned in December 1937 to help relieve the financial pressure that the club was under. Wasting no time at all, Jimmy took on the role of gaffer at Glenavon the very next month. In 1938-39 he steered the club to the final of the Gold Cup and finished respectably in the League but, again, finances dictated that the Larne episode would be repeated. His April '39 resignation at Glenavon was quickly followed by a new appointment as secretary-manager of Newry Town a month later. It's unclear how long Jimmy remained in football management, but he seems to have moved back to Scotland after the war. He was quoted for the Alloa job in May 1946 and later was in the running for the Coleraine job in January 1949. Away from the football, Jimmy married Isabella Milligan. He was employed as a store supervisor in his later years, and was living in Troon. Jimmy died prematurely from a blood clot in his 64th year and it was his daughter, Mary Wilson, who signed the death register entry. |
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