James Morton "Bud" Maxwell (15 January 1913 – 22 April 1990) was a Scottish

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 ...

who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Club career

Born in

, James Morton Maxwell's father of the same name was also a footballer prior to his death in

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 ...

, at which time his son was four years old. 'Bud' became known for his skills at school and was selected for Scotland at that level, thereafter becoming an apprentice at hometown club

, also working at a shoe manufacturer. Maxwell quickly emerged as a prolific goalscorer (displacing

Peerie Cunningham Henry "Peerie" Cunningham (9 January 1898 – 17 September 1972) was a Scottish footballer who played as a forward, initially being deployed on the right wing or in a creative role but later recording a high scoring rate as a central striker. He ...

whose record was also strong) and becoming Kilmarnock's second highest goalscorer of their history in just four seasons, with 103 goals in 126

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

games plus 19 goals in 21

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1932 Scottish Cup Final against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. The first game was drawn, with Maxwell scoring the only goal for ''Killie''. He also played in the replay, which Kilmarnock lost.Rangers Win The Cup Kilmarnock Well Beaten
The Glasgow Herald, 21 April 1932 Maxwell signed for

in 1934 and maintained an impressive strike rate, scoring 60 goals in 129 league matches and finishing top goalscorer in 1934–35 with 26 goals, and 1935–36 with 19. He also played in the victorious Preston team at the 1938 FA Cup Final. However, he suffered increasingly from knee injuries and was sold to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in 1939 just before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, returning to Kilmarnock in unofficial competitions where he scored his 124th goal on his final appearance for the club on 16 March 1940. He served with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

throughout the war, mainly in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

on submarine hunting/convoy escort duty. He played as a guest for

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

in the wartime Scottish Southern League a number of times while on leave from the navy. After the war, he trained with Preston but his registration was still held by Barnsley, who would not allow him to sign for a divisional rival; instead he joined

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

of the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

for a short spell lasting until the end of 1946.

International career

While at Kilmarnock, Maxwell was selected once for the

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

in September 1933. The SFL lost 3–0 to the

Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, and of the 11 picked by the Scots (seven of whom were making their debuts), only one was selected again.Sat 30 Sep 1933 Irish League 3 SFL 0
London Hearts Supporters Club He was on a reserve list for a

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

fixture a few months later, but never made a full international appearance. His father had also played for the SFL XI on a single occasion (1907).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Bud 1913 births 1990 deaths Scottish men's footballers Preston North End F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Footballers from Kilmarnock Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Barnsley F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Men's association football forwards Greenock Morton F.C. wartime guest players Kilmarnock F.C. wartime guest players Royal Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century Scottish sportsmen