James Ferrier Easson (3 January 1906 – 20 May 1983) 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 an

inside-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in the

English 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 ...

, helping them reach the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. He also made three appearances for the Scotland national team.

Football career

Easson was born in

Brechin Brechin (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Scottish Reformation, Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which contin ...

and played for various Scottish junior clubs, including

Carnoustie Carnoustie (; ) is a town and former police burgh in the subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland. It is at the mouth of the Barry Burn on the North Sea coast. In the UK census 2011, 2011 census, Carnoustie had a population of ...

and East Craigie before joining

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. Portsmouth's Scottish scouts recommended him to manager Jack Tinn and he came south in 1928. He moved to the south coast of England in 1928 to join

, then becoming established in the

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 ...

. He made his debut for the first-team in a 0–0 draw against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in May 1929, shortly after "Pompey" had been defeated in the 1929 FA Cup Final. This was followed a few days later by a match at The Dell against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the Hampshire Benevolent Cup. This match was played in torrential rain in front of the burnt out remains of the East Stand, which had been destroyed by fire four days earlier. Despite Easson's two goals, the "Saints" won the match 3–2. Easson soon became a regular member of the Portsmouth side, replacing the ageing David Watson at

inside-left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

and forming a useful partnership with

Jack Weddle John Robson Weddle (5 November 1905 – 1979) was an English footballer who played for Portsmouth as a centre forward during the interwar and post war period. He is best remembered for Portsmouth's Cup run in the 1933–34 season, scoring a hat ...

. He soon showed his scoring ability, with five goals in his first ten games. His reputation grew in the 1930–31 season when he scored two hat-tricks within a month of each other, against

and

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 ...

, both at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a association football, football ground in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and is the home of Portsmouth F.C., Portsmouth Football Club. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it ...

. Shortly afterwards, he was named by the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

selectors for their international side for a match against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, but they realised their mistake when the records were checked for Easson's birthplace. He completed the 1930–31 season with 30 league and cup goals to help Pompey finish fourth in the First Division. In May 1931, he was selected to join the Scotland national team on a tour of Europe. His first cap came in a 5–0 defeat against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

on 16 May, followed by a match against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

a week later, when Easson scored the opening goal in a 3–2 victory. Despite his "frail and small appearance", he became one of the most feared inside forwards in the First Division and his partnership with Weddle made the pair feared throughout the league in the early 1930s. In 1931–32, Easson netted another hat-trick, missed only two games and scored 21 league goals, regularly scoring two in a match to establish himself as a firm favourite at Fratton Park. His third and final Scotland appearance came in a 3–2 defeat by

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 4 October 1933. Easson played in the 1934 FA Cup Final defeat against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

and stayed at Fratton Park until March 1939 when he joined

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

. By now, he had lost his place at

Bert Barlow Herbert Barlow (22 July 1916 – 19 March 2004) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward in the Football League, where he made over 250 league appearances for Barnsley, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Portsmouth, Leicester City and Co ...

; his last game for Portsmouth ended identically to the first, against Manchester United with a 0–0 scoreline in December 1938. In his ten years with Portsmouth, he made a total of 312 first-team appearances, scoring 107 goals.

Later career

His playing career was brought to an end following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which he returned to Scotland and guested for Carnoustie Panmure. After the war, he returned to Fratton Park as a trainer, remaining with Portsmouth until July 1950. During his first spell as a trainer, Easson twice helped guide Portsmouth to 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 ...

championship: in 1948–49 and again the following season. In 1951, he took up a coaching position at local rivals,

, where he remained until February 1953. In April 1951, Easson was involved in an altercation with Southampton's Irish international goalkeeper, Hugh Kelly after a defeat at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. After the match, the team stayed in the Midlands to play a friendly match at

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Kelly returned to the team hotel with Ken Chisholm of

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

and two young ladies. When Easson tried to get the ladies to leave, he and Kelly had an argument which culminated in Kelly giving the trainer a

black eye A periorbital hematoma, commonly called a black eye or a shiner (associated with boxing or stick sports such as hockey), is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than to the eye. The name refers to the dark-colo ...

. As a result, Kelly was immediately placed on the

transfer-list The transfer market is the arena in which football players are available for transfer to clubs. The transfer market consists of a list of players available for transfer, and also the money moving between clubs as they contest to purchase and sell t ...

and never played for the "Saints" again. Easson returned to Fratton Park for the 1957–58 season.

Honours

Portsmouth *

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 ...

runners-up:

References

External links

(Incomplete) Portsmouth career details
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Easson, Jimmy Scottish men's footballers People from Brechin 1906 births 1983 deaths Dundee F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers English Football League players Men's association football forwards Southampton F.C. non-playing staff Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff East Craigie F.C. players Carnoustie Panmure F.C. players Footballers from Angus, Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen