James McBride (30 December 1873 – 25 May 1899) 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 for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

during the latter half of the 19th century.

Life and playing career

Born in Renton,

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

, Scotland, McBride played for Renton Wanderers and Renton before being signed by

managers

John McKenna John McKenna (; 3 January 1855 – 22 March 1936) was an Irish businessman, professional rugby player, and the first manager of the Liverpool Football Club which has since gone on to become the most successful football club in England. Ear ...

and

William Edward Barclay William Edward Barclay (14 June 1857 – 30 January 1917) was the first manager of Everton and also the first manager of Liverpool, working with club secretary John McKenna. His time at Everton was short managing them for their first 22 games ...

in 1892, a short time after he took part in a trial for the Scotland national team and made his sole appearance 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 the first fixture they played). McBride made his debut in Liverpool's first ever fixture, a friendly against Rotherham Town on 1 September 1892, which Liverpool won 7–1. He also played in their first ever competitive match, a Lancashire League fixture against Higher Walton two days later. He scored his first goal for Liverpool in this game, which the team won 8–0. McBride was a regular during Liverpool's unbeaten debut season in 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 ...

, missing just 4 of the 28 games. Liverpool gained promotion to the top flight of English football, replacing

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial ...

by winning 2–0 in a test (play-off) match. He only played five more times for the

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

club during their relegation back down to the lower level.

Honors

;Liverpool *

(1894)

References

;Sources
Profile at LFCHistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:McBride, James 1873 births 1899 deaths Liverpool F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Scottish men's footballers Renton F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players Men's association football wing halves Footballers from Renton, West Dunbartonshire