James Methven (7 December 1868 – 25 March 1953), was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

. Methven became synonymous with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

; he played for the club in three

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

s and managed the club for 16 years. In total Methven was on the books at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground (sometimes referred to as the BBG) was a stadium in Derby, England. It was first used for baseball as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898 and then for football as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 199 ...

for 31 years and represented the club, in one capacity or another, in over 1000 matches. Methven, though born in Ceres,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, first played senior football in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, for

Leith Athletic Leith Athletic Football Club is a football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. They compete in the East of Scotland Football League, Conference A. First team matches are played at Peffermill 3G. The present club considers itse ...

, Heart of Midlothian and St Bernard's. He joined a growing band of Scottish professionals in English football when he signed forms with

at the end of the 1890-91 season. Under

Harry Newbould Henry J. Newbould (1861 – April 1928, born in Liverpool, Lancashire) was an English football player and manager who managed Derby County and Manchester City. Before becoming a manager, Newbould combined a job at an iron foundry with playing fo ...

Derby endured a period of great frustration, never fulfilling what talent that team had and Methven was involved in all the matches that mattered. In total he played 511 games and (was one of three players who) appeared in each of the three unsuccessful

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

appearances for the Rams, before taking the reins as manager immediately following Harry Newbould's departure in 1906. He last played for the club (at the age of 38) on 2 February 1907, in an FA Cup Second Round tie against Lincoln City, which Derby won 1-0. Methven was unable to stop the slide into the Second Division during his first season with the club and only converted the club's wayward fortunes when he persuaded the 36-year-old

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem "Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at ...

to return home from Middlesbrough in 1910, helping Derby County back to the First Division as deserved champions in 1912. Methven finally left Derby in June 1922 having been in charge for 498 games (winning more than he lost) finally working for a local authority after a stint as a scout with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

External links

Jimmy "Logie" Methven profile
originally published in the Derby Evening Telegraph, October 2000.

of Jimmy Methven {{DEFAULTSORT:Methven, Jimmy 1868 births Scottish footballers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Derby County F.C. managers English Football League managers 1953 deaths Leith Athletic F.C. players St Bernard's F.C. players Association football defenders Sportspeople from Fife FA Cup Final players Scottish baseball players