James Adamson (4 April 1929 – 8 November 2011) was an English professional

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 ...

and

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

. He was born in

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. He made 486 appearances for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, ranking him sixth in their all-time appearance list.

Playing career

Adamson, a right-half, joined

in January 1947 after playing non-league football in his native Ashington and working as a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

. His early career was interrupted by

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, which he completed with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, meaning his debut had to wait until February 1951, when Burnley played away to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. He played once for the England B team, but never made the full England side. He was an ever-present as Burnley won the First Division in 1959–60 and captained the side to the 1962 FA Cup Final which they lost against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. He was also named ''Footballer of the Year'' in 1962. Adamson formed a midfield partnership with inside-forward Jimmy McIlroy, around which much of Burnley's creative play was centred.

Coaching career

He retired in 1964, having played 426 league games, and joined the Burnley coaching staff. He had previously coached the England team in the 1962 World Cup in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and was

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

's preferred choice of manager ahead of

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he represented England national football team, the England national ...

but declined the offer. In February 1970, when Burnley manager Harry Potts was made general manager, Adamson stepped up to become team manager. Burnley were relegated at the end his first full season in charge, but returned to the top-flight in 1973, winning the Second Division title. Burnley were relegated again in 1976, although Adamson had already left that January. In May 1976 he was appointed as manager of Dutch side

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

, but left the following month. In November 1976 he was made manager of

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 ...

, but was unable to prevent them from relegation from the First Division. He left Sunderland in October 1978, taking over from

Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...

as manager of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. Adamson guided Leeds to 5th place in the First Division and a League Cup semi-final in his first season. However, his reign saw the departure of popular players like Tony Currie and Frank Gray and Leeds could only finish 11th in 1979–80. Amidst growing fan criticism, Adamson resigned in October 1980. He then took no further part in professional football and spent the rest of his life in Burnley. Adamson died on 8 November 2011, aged 82. On 1 August 2013, his biography, written by Dave Thomas, was published.

Honours

Burnley *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1959–60 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 1961–62

References

External links

Clarets Mad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Jimmy 1929 births 2011 deaths Military personnel from Northumberland Footballers from Ashington English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves English Football League players Burnley F.C. players England men's B international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players English football managers Burnley F.C. managers Sunderland A.F.C. managers Leeds United F.C. managers Sparta Rotterdam managers Eredivisie managers Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands English expatriate football managers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel English miners English Football League representative players Royal Air Force airmen 20th-century English sportsmen

Playing career

Coaching career

Honours

See also

References

External links