James McNab (13 April 1940 – 29 June 2006) 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

left half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

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 ...

and

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

. He began his career at Sunderland, making 323 appearances and scoring 18 goals in the three major domestic competitions between 1958 and 1967. He was part of the club's

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

promotion winning side in 1963–64. Alongside

Jimmy Montgomery Jimmy Montgomery BEM (born 9 October 1943) is an English retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made a record 627 appearances for his hometown club Sunderland with 537 of these appearances being in the league, after joining the club ...

, Cecil Irwin,

Len Ashurst Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He spent most of his playing career with Sunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired at ...

, Martin Harvey and

Charlie Hurley Charles John Hurley (4 October 1936 – 22 April 2024) was an Irish footballer who mainly played in the centre half position. Nicknamed 'King', Hurley was a defender for both Sunderland, where he was named as "Player of the Century" by his f ...

, McNab formed one of the most notable and most settled back fives in Sunderland's history. He joined Preston North End in March 1967,Preston North End
making 224 League appearances and scoring 6 goals for the

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

club, and twice bring named the Official Player of the Year. He won a Third Division championship medal in 1970–71. Finally, he moved to Stockport County in 1974 where he ended his career after making a further 30 League appearances, scoring one goal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcnab, Jim 1940 births 2006 deaths Footballers from Denny, Falkirk Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wing halves English Football League players Sunderland A.F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen