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Players Index Page Last Updated
5 February 2024
 
"known not only as a football player of international fame, but for his sterling quality and general faithfulness."
 

Jimmy Whitehead

Accrington FC, Blackburn Rovers FC

 2 appearances, 0 goals

P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 F 8: A 2
75% successful
1893-94

captain: none
minutes played: 180

Timeline
  James Whitehead
Birth Monday, 4 July 1870 at 2 Commercial Street in Church, Lancashire
  registered in Blackburn July-September 1870.
Baptism Sunday, 24 July 1870 at St James, Church Kirk, Lancashire, by O.Birchall
 

According to the 1871 census, nine month old James is the youngest of seven children to James and Catherine (née Pilkington), living at 2 Commercial Street in Church. His father is a a clerk in the chemical works.
 

According to the 1881 census, James is now the middle of the five children, living with their parents at 42 Henry Street in Church. His father remains is a bookkeeper.
 

According to the 1891 census, James is a printworks labourer still living at 42 Henry Street with his parents. He is the oldest of the four children. His father is a clerk at the Chemical Works.
  "James Whitehead, the inside right forward of Blackburn Rovers, was last night presented with a magnificent gold watch, inscribed: "Presented by a few friends who admire him, not only as a football player of international fame, but for his sterling quality and general faithfulness." The presentation was made privately by Mr. Critchley, of the Rovers' committee, Whitehead being taken completely by surprise," - The Evening Telegraph and Star, Friday, 20 April 1894
Marriage to Selina Baldwin, in Hynburn, Summer 1896
  registered in Haslingden July-September 1896.
Children Jimmy and Lina Whitehead had three children together. Lily (b.23 November 1897) and Alfred (b.1904), another had died between census'.
 

According to the 1901 census, James is now a beerseller and now married to Selina, with one daughter, Lily. They live at the Slaters' Arms, Whalley Road in Accrington, with a houskeeper, Jane Baldwin, Selina's mother.
  "Jim Ingram, a well-known and highly respected member of the Accrington cricket team, has taken over the tenancy of the Slaters' Arms beerhouse, Whalley-road, in succession to Jimmy Whitehead, the ex-international footballer, who is retiring from 'public' business." - The Haslingden Gazette, Saturday, 7 March 1903
 

According to the 1911 census, James, a lithograph labourer and is still married, and now has a son, Alfred, being added. They live at 20 Dowry Street in Accrington.
 

According to the 1921 census, James is still married, now a guillotine worker at the lithographers (F. Sterner & co.), and with his two children still live at 20 Dowry Street.
Death Tuesday, 20 August 1929, at 34 Whalley Road, Accrington, Lancashire.
aged 59 years 47 days registered in Haslingden July-September 1929.

Obituary

"DEATH OF AN OLD ROVER.
 "The death occurred on Tuesday at his home in Whalley-road, Accrington, of Mr. 'Jimmy' Whitehead, one of the best-known footballers of his day. A native of Accrington, he played for the Accrington Old Reds, and in his nineties was with the Blackburn Rovers, his contemporaries including Ogilvie, Brandon, Killean, Booth, Anderson, Houlker, Chippendale, Jos. Hargreaves, Wilkie and Campbell. Whitehead was a fast and clever right-wing forward. He was twice capped for England, against Wales in 1893 and Ireland in 1894. Fifty-nine years of age, he lived in the Accrington district most of his life, and for a time kept the Slaters' Arms." - The Blackburn Times, Saturday, 24 August 1929.
  Selina Whitehead died on 8 January 1962 in Accrington
Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] &

Playing Career

Club(s)		 Played with junior side Peel Bank FC before he joined Accrington FC in 1890. "The request of the Blackburn Rovers for the transference of James Whitehead, the smart little international forward player belonging to the Accrington Football Club, has been complied with on payment of £100, which the Accrington Committee will use to wipe off part of their debt. Everton were, it is said, in treaty for Whitehead, and had offered £50 for his transfer." Whitehead joined Blackburn Rovers FC on 16 June 1893 and served a months suspension in early 1894, before he was released by Rovers at the end of the 1896-97 season. "James Whitehead claimed a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers. The Football League ruled that the agreement between Whitehead and the Rovers hold good, and the international is free to go to to any club which he may choose." He chose and signed with Manchester City FC in September 1897 after 'flatly refusing' to sign for them in the February. Returned to Accrington Stanley FC on 6 December 1899, now in the North-Eastern Lancashire Combination.

League History
 182 appearances, 53 goals		 Accrington FC 1890-95 73 appearances, 24 goals
debut: 27 September 1890 Accrington FC 1 Everton FC 2.
Blackburn Rovers FC 1893-97 85 appearances, 22 goals
debut: 2 September 1893 Darwen FC 2 Blackburn Rovers FC 3.
Manchester City FC 1897-98 24 appearances, seven goals
debut (division two): 23 October 1897 Manchester City FC 5 Darwen FC 0.
last (division two): 24 September 1898 Lincoln City FC 3 Manchester City FC 1.
Club honours Football League Division One fourth place 1893-94 (22ᵃ 8ᵍ); Second Division third place 1897-88 (20, 5ᵍ), winners 1898-99 (4, 2ᵍ);
FA Cup semi-finalist 1893-94 (5, 2ᵍ);
Individual honours None
Distinctions None
Height/Weight "short and stocky"

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].

England Career
Player number One of four who became the 206th players (208) to appear for England.
Position(s) Inside-right
First match No. 48, 13 March 1893, England 6 Wales 0, a British Championship match at Victoria Park, Boothen, Stoke-on-Trent, aged 22 years 252 days.
Last match
355 days		 No. 50, 3 March 1894, Ireland 2 England 2, a British Championship match at Cliftonville Gardens, Cliftonville, Belfast, aged 23 years 33 days.
Major tournaments British Championship 1892-93, 1893-94;
Team honours British Championship winners 1892-93;
Individual honours The Professionals (one appearance March 1893)
The Whites (one appearance March 1894)
Distinctions Died six days after Dick Baugh and thirteen days after John Bain

Beyond England
No additional information, but according to census and newspaper information. After becoming the landlord at Slaters' Arms in Accrington, he left to become a lithographer, a trade he had learned before he became a professional footballer. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.266.


The Numbers
parties Appearances comp. apps minutes captain
2 2 2 180 0 none
The minutes here given can only ever be a guideline and cannot therefore be accurate, only an approximation.
P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
2 1 1 0 8 2 +6 0 1 4 1 75 +1
Both of his matches were played in the British Championship

Venue Record

Venue P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
Home 1 1 0 0 6 0 +6 0 1 6.00 0.00 100.0 +1
Away 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0

Tournament Record

British Championship Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1892-93 1 1 0 0 6 0 +6 0 1 6.00 0.00 100.0 +1
BC 1893-94 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0
BC All 2 1 1 0 8 2 +6 0 1 4.00 1.00 75.0 +1

All Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 2 1 1 0 8 2 +6 0 1 4.00 1.00 75.0 +1
2 1 1 0 8 2 +6 0 1 4 1 75 +1

Match History

 Club: Accrington F.C. - one full appearance (90 min) F.A. International Select Committee - two full appearances (180 min)x

apps match match details comp res. rundown pos

Age 22
1 48 13 March 1893 - England 6 Wales 0
Victoria Ground, Stoke-upon-Trent		 BC HW   ir
  

one of four who became the 206th players (208) to appear for England
the third and final Accrington FC player to represent England

trial  
one appearance - The Professionals vs. The Amateurs, 22 March 1893;

 Club: Blackburn Rovers F.C. - one full appearance (90 min)  

Age 23
2 50 3 March 1894 - Ireland 2 England 2
Cliftonville Gardens, Belfast		 BC AD   ir
  

one of two who became the thirteenth Blackburn Rovers FC players to represent England

trial  
one appearance - The Whites vs. The Stripes, 15 March 1894;

     

 
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