James Letson Frizzell (16 February 1937 – 3 July 2016) was a Scottish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player and manager. Frizzell was appointed a patron of

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

's supporters' trust, Trust Oldham in 2004.

Playing career

Frizzell began his career at Greenock Morton as a forward in 1957. Three years later, he joined

, where he played 318 matches and scored 57 goals initially as a forward and then in the wing-half and full-back roles.

Managerial career

A managerial career was started in March 1970 when Frizzell became manager of

, following a spell as a coach under

Jack Rowley John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his pr ...

. At the time, the club was near the bottom of

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier L ...

, with the distinct possibility of having to re-apply for League status. He then guided the team to nine wins and six draws in the remaining 22 matches and a comfortable midtable finish. In the following season Oldham achieved promotion to

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

and in 1974 they won the Third Division championship. The club survived in the Second Division bar only a couple of flirts with relegation, yet despite his success at the helm of the club, Frizzell was surprisingly dismissed in June 1982. He was at the time the second longest serving manager in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. After a year unemployed, Frizzell was invited to join

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

as an assistant to

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

. He became manager after the exit of his former boss in October 1986. Frizzell was sacked in May 1987 as the team was relegated to the Division Two under a serious financial crisis. He returned to the club in 1994 to work as chief scout but left in 1998.

Death

Frizzell died on 3 July 2016.

References

External links

*
Jimmy Frizzell
at Trust Oldham * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frizzell, Jimmy 1937 births 2016 deaths Scottish men's footballers Greenock Morton F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. managers Manchester City F.C. managers English Football League managers Men's association football inside forwards Footballers from Greenock 20th-century Scottish sportsmen