James Watton (born 1 November 1936) is an English former

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 half-back. He made 129 league appearances in a six-year career 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 ...

. He began his career with English

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

side Bromsgrove Rovers and Dutch club De Graafschap before joining Port Vale in September 1962. He was allowed to move on to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

in July 1964. He helped "Donny" to the Fourth Division title in 1965–66 before he left the club for non-League side Burton Albion in 1968.

Career

Watton played for Bromsgrove Rovers and Dutch side De Graafschap before joining Norman Low's Port Vale in September 1962. He made his debut in a 1–0 win at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

on 10 September 1962, but only made four further Third Division appearances that season. He did not appear under new boss Freddie Steele in the 1963–64 season, and left

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

for

in July 1964. Rovers finished ninth in the Fourth Division in 1964–65 under the stewardship of Bill Leivers, before winning the league in 1965–66 after finishing ahead of

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. They could not survive in the league above under new boss Keith Kettleborough, however, and were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

in 1966–67 after finishing nine points short of safety. They finished tenth in the Fourth Division in 1967–68 under the management of George Raynor. Watton then left Belle Vue and later played for Southern League side Burton Albion.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Doncaster Rovers *

Football League Fourth Division 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 ...

: 1965–66

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watton, Jim 1936 births Living people Footballers from Wolverhampton English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands De Graafschap players Port Vale F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players