James Jay (July 1879 – 13 March 1927) 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 ...

who played as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Bristol City. He is the record Southern League appearance-maker for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

and was posthumously inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2015.

Career

Bristol City

, Jay joined

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

club Bristol City from Western League Second Division high-flyers Bristol East in September 1901. He made 21 appearances and scored four goals, before departing at the end of the

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Musi ...

season.

Brentford

Jay joined Southern League First Division club

in June 1903. He was a regular member of the team until his release at the end of the 1907–08 season. In September 1908, the Bees' management had a change of heart and brought Jay back for two further seasons and gave him a

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whe ...

against Clapton Orient. Jay's 206 Southern League appearances is a club record and he made over 225 senior appearances for Brentford, scoring eight goals.

Personal life

After being released from Brentford in 1908, Jay became a pub landlord in his native

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

Career statistics

Honours

Bristol East * Western League Second Division: 1900–01 Individual * Brentford Hall of Fame

References

English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Brentford F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Western Football League players People from Kingswood, South Gloucestershire 1879 births 1927 deaths Footballers from Gloucestershire {{England-footy-midfielder-1870s-stub