James Bryden Niven (10 February 1861 – 1933) was a Scottish international

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 ...

. Niven was born in the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta near

Moffat Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland. It lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. ...

, the son of James Bryden Niven, Sr. and Elizabeth Saunders. Niven was one of two Scottish internationalists from Moffat. The other was James Fraser. While playing for

Moffat F.C. Moffat F.C. was an association football club from Moffat in Dumfriesshire. History The club was founded in 1880 and entered the Scottish Cup for the first time in 1881–82, losing to the 5th Kirkcudbrightshire Rifle Volunteers F.C. in a ...

, Niven was an awarded a full

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 ...

international cap, for having played in the 8–2 defeat of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 14 March 1885. The game was played at the second Hampden Park, later known as

Cathkin Park Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the ...

, and

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the game. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" because of his fast play, he was Wor ...

of Kilmarnock scored a hat-trick. This was the only full international cap that both players received. Niven died in

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an affluent suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located East of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', Wes ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, in 1933.''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007''

References

;Sources *

External links

* 1861 births 1933 deaths People from Moffat Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Footballers from Dumfries and Galloway Association football fullbacks Date of death missing {{Scotland-footy-defender-1860s-stub