James Anderson Croal (27 July 1885 – 16 September 1939) 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 ...

, who played for

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

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

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. He was judged to be a clever

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

who when paired with

Bob McNeil Robert McNeil (24 November 1890 – 21 February 1948) was a Scottish footballer who played for Hamilton Academical and Chelsea. He was a neat outside left who dribbled well and had an accurate shot. Career Club Born in Springburn, Glasgow ...

was very effective.

Career

Croal was a lively inside left, who joined

in 1905 from junior football. However, he failed to make the breakthrough to the first team and went out on loan to Ayr Parkhouse,

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa At ...

and

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish Association football, football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Champ ...

, before finally leaving Ibrox to sign for

for a £10 fee in November 1910. At

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Le ...

, his career blossomed, and he won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

and five appearances for the

Scottish 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 ...

. Croal transferred to

from Falkirk in April 1914. Chelsea paid £2,000 for him and he remained at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium) ...

until 1922. He was a member of the Chelsea side that reached the

1915 FA Cup Final The 1915 FA Cup Final took place on 24 April 1915 and was contested by Sheffield United and Chelsea. It was the last FA Cup final to be staged before competitive football was suspended in Britain because of the First World War. The match was m ...

. He made a total of 130 appearances for Chelsea, scoring a total of 26 goals. Croal then spent two-and-a-half seasons with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

before retiring.

Personal life

Croal was a

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled aft ...

by profession. In the summer of 1916, two years since the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, he enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United S ...

. By March 1918 he had risen to the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

and finished the war as an

acting sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other u ...

Honours

Falkirk *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1912–13

References

External links

* 1885 births 1939 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Chelsea F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. wartime guest players Men's association football inside forwards Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players Footballers from Glasgow British Army personnel of World War I King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers Ayr Parkhouse F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Falkirk F.C. wartime guest players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scotland men's junior international footballers People from Gorbals {{Scotland-footy-forward-1880s-stub