On leaving King Edward VI School, Southampton, he was apprenticed as a trainee draughtsman while a part-time professional at Charlton. Despite his meandering career, he only ever once put in for a transfer himself. A piratical centre-forward, he was one of the best headers of a ball in the lower divisions of the Football League; he played in both Southport’s first promotion season and the Fourth Division Championship side six years later. The scorer of almost 200 League goals, he was officially credited with the distinction of scoring the fastest goal in a Football League match, netting after only four seconds for Bradford against Tranmere Rovers in April 1964, though the referee’s timing has more recently been called into question by common consent it was nearer 12 seconds. During the Championship campaign, much as he had with Kevin Hector at Bradford ten years earlier, he struck up a wonderful understanding with Andy Provan during the Championship campaign. His 13 goals included a hat-trick inside 10 minutes in the 7—0 drubbing of Darlington but he never recaptured his scoring flair after a summer in the USA. Later he went back to the States and settled in Las Vegas, working for many years as a slot machine repair mechanic in the Las Vegas casinos. He now works at a local golf club, and his son Edward had become a professional golfer, playing in major tournaments. A good club cricketer, Jim once scored 103 for Torquay Corinthians (out of 245—8 dec).

Profile reproduced with Permission from:
The Sandgrounders: The Complete League History of Southport F. C., by Michael Braham and Geoff Wilde (Palatine Books, 1995). ISBN 978-1-874181-14-9