James Mitchell Archibald (18 September 1892 – 25 January 1975) was a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

-born Archibald initially played as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. He was a Lanarkshire Juvenile League and Scottish Juvenile Cup winner in 1912 playing with Motherwell Hearts and played for the Scottish Juvenile Association representative team. The following season he moved on to Glasgow Junior Football League club Camberslang Rangers where he played for two seasons. In July 1914 he joined Bellshill Athletic but within a few months, in October 1914, he signed with senior level

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

First Division club

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. He scored on his debut later that month in a 1–1 draw at St Mirren. He played with Motherwell for five seasons which coincided with

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and during this period converted to playing as a wing-half. Archibald moved to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the summer of 1919, making his debut in the 1919–20 season in which Spurs were Champions of the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

. Over three seasons he played 24 league games, scoring once, before in the summer of 1922 moving to Aberdare Athletic of the

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

. Thirty league games and two goals over the 1922–23 season resulted in a move to Clapton Orient. He played 52 times for Orient, 49 games in the

scoring once, and three games in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. He was made available for transfer by Orient in May 1926 and subsequently in the following September joined

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. He left Southend without playing in their first team and in December 1927 joined non-league Margate Town who, with Archibald playing in their team, were the 1927–28 Kent League runners-up. In September 1928 he was on a month's trial with Chatham and for the 1929–30 season he was with Tunbridge Wells Rangers. He played regularly in the first half of the following season with Kent League newcomers Ashford. Archibald died on 25 January 1975 in

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References

1892 births 1975 deaths Footballers from Falkirk Scottish men's footballers Cambuslang Rangers F.C. players Bellshill Athletic F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Aberdare Athletic F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Margate F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players Tunbridge Wells F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Kent Football League (1894–1959) players Men's association football midfielders Scottish Junior Football Association players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1890s-stub