Name Jimmy McDougall Role Footballer | Died July 1984 | |
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James McDougall (23 January 1904 – July 1984) was a Scotland international footballer who played for Liverpool.
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Life and playing career
Born in Port Glasgow, McDougall played for Port Glasgow Athletic and Partick Thistle before George Patterson signed him for Liverpool in April 1928. McDougall made his Liverpool debut on 25 August 1928, in a 1st Division match against Bury at Anfield. It was a good day all round for Jimmy as Liverpool won the match 3–0. He scored his first goal for Liverpool in a match against Aston Villa at Villa Park, unfortunately it turned out to be a consolation goal as Villa won 3–1.
McDougall was originally signed as a forward, where he played in Scotland, but was moved back into a half-back role a short time after signing for the Reds. He was a very calm and reassuring defender.' He certainly made an impression upon signing as he became a regular member of the side for the next decade, averaging 35 matches per season. This was during a time when Liverpool were not amongst the title challengers (5th place in his first season was the highest the club reached) or stringing together a decent cup run. in fact the best run they achieved was a quarter final appearance in 1932 which Chelsea won 2-0.
McDougall fell in love with the Liverpool area and stayed on Merseyside after playing his last game for Liverpool on 15 January 1938, in a 3–0 defeat to Charlton Athletic at the at The Valley. Jimmy had racked up 356 appearances, scoring 12 times. Four of the goals came after he was moved back to half-back, where he played 313 times. Before he finally hung his boots up he turned out for local side South Liverpool.
Scotland called up McDougall for a European tour in 1931. He made his international debut in a friendly match at the Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna against Austria on 16 May, as the Scots were resoundingly beaten 5–0. Jimmy must have made a positive impression, however, as he was given the honour of Captaining his country in his second international, which was also to be his last. Four days later the Scots lost 3–0 in the Stadio Nazionale, Rome against Italy.