Jim Ferguson
Jim Ferguson
Jim Ferguson
● Jim Ferguson, 1929 (VIF)

born in Scotland

James Stirling Ferguson was born on Thursday, 13th August, 1896, in Longriggend, North Lanarkshire.

The 5' 11 (13st 0lbs) goalkeeper signed for George Easton's Thistle on Saturday, 17th June, 1916, having most recently been with Airdriehill Shamrock.

Aged 20, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 19th August, 1916, in a 2-0 defeat away to Aberdeen in the Scottish Football League.

Jim kept his first clean-sheet on Saturday, 26th August, 1916, in a 3-0 win at home to Ayr United in the Scottish Football League.

He registered the last of his 23 clean-sheets on Saturday, 18th May, 1918, in a 4-0 neutral-venue win against Clyde in the Glasgow Charity Cup.

He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 10th May, 1919, in a 2-1 friendly defeat away to Bathgate, having appeared as a Jag on 56 occasions.

His club-list included Airdriehill Shamrock, Partick Thistle, St Roch's, Brentford, Notts County and Ayr United.

Jim died on Sunday, 21st September, 1952, in Townhead, Glasgow, aged 56.

Bio Extra

The youngster competed with James Neil and Robert Bruce in his first two seasons, and was usually the #1 choice. However, the arrival of experienced campaigner Alex Stewart of Falkirk, in August 1918, seemed to signal the end of the road for Jim's first-team prospects at Firhill, despite setting some excellent clean-sheet records. After a season in the reserves he stepped back to the junior game with St Roch's, where he spent several seasons before, surprisingly, his senior career was resurrected with a move down south. He joined Brentford in 1926, where over 12,000 watched him keep a clean-sheet debut in a 4-0 win at home to Brighton in Division Three (South). Clearly, he'd become a reliable custodian as he made over 70 appearances in a couple of years, and was snapped up by Notts County of Division Two. During his spell at Meadow Lane he experienced the pain of relegation in 1929-30 and the joy of promotion in 1930-31, which was a title-winning season for County. In all, he made over 160 appearances for the Magpies before heading back up the road in December 1932, joining Ayr United for what proved to be a short-term deal, where he finished his unusual career.

Jim's younger brother, Alex, was also a goalkeeper, and similarly wandered, winning the Division 3 (South) title with Newport County in 1938-39.

(WS)



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