James Clarkson Rae (22 November 1907 – 4 July 1958) was a Scottish 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 lea ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

who most famously played for and then became manager of 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 ...

club

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. He was a full back and also represented King's Park and

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

in Scotland.Jimmy Rae
Greens on Screen

Playing career

Jimmy Rae was one of eleven men who both played for and managed

. His career as a footballer began when he was 17 years old, signing for King's Park as a left-footed full back. He joined

in 1929 and went on to make 119 appearances in all competitions for them, most notably in the

1930 Scottish Cup Final The 1929–30 Scottish Cup was the 52nd staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers who defeated Partick Thistle in the replayed final. Fourth round Semi-finals ---- Final Replay ---- ...

, which was won by

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

after a replay at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. His performances for Thistle made him a target for the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

giants, but Plymouth Argyle manager

Bob Jack Robert Jack (4 April 1876 – 6 May 1943) was a Scottish football player and manager. Born in Alloa, Jack played in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and Glossop, and the Southern League for Plymouth Argyle and Southe ...

secured Rae's services in 1932 (along with forward John Simpson) after Partick played a benefit match at

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in the area of Milehouse, Plymouth, Devon, England. With a capacity of 17,900, the ground has been the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club since 1903, and was also used between 1900 and 1903 by Argyle Athlet ...

. He made his debut in August 1932 and immediately became a first-team regular. He went on to make 249 League appearances and ten FA Cup appearances, missing only a handful of games in seven years with the club, where he made up an all-Scottish left side with

Archie Gorman Archibald Macdonald Gorman (10 April 1909 – 18 September 1992) was a Scottish Association football, footballer who played as a wing half. Born in Lochore, he was a modern-day Midfielder (association football)#Defensive midfielder, holding m ...

and Sammy Black. When war intervened in 1939, Rae continued to play for Argyle in wartime competitions, bringing his total of club appearances to 283. Rae played for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Schoolboys and caught the attention of the senior national team selectors on many occasions during his professional career, being called up to the stand-by list three times, but he never won a full international cap.

Managerial career

When hostilities had ended in 1945 he was appointed as assistant to Argyle manager Jack Tresadern as the

resumed. He took over as Plymouth Argyle manager in November 1947, a position he held for eight years. He won the

Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

title in 1952 and led the club to their joint highest League finish of 4th in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

the following year. He was relieved of his duties as manager midway through the 1954–55 season due to downturn in results, but left a lasting legacy as one of the club's best managers. He was responsible for signing players of the calibre of Jack Chisholm, Neil Dougall and Gordon Astall.Argyle in America
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Later life and death

Following his dismissal, he left

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

to manage a pub in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, but died in July 1958.

Honours

Plymouth Argyle *

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

: 1951–52 Partick Thistle *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1929–30

References

External links

Official website profile

Argyle Review profile

Manager profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rae, Jimmy 1907 births 1958 deaths Scottish men's footballers Partick Thistle F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Scottish football managers Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers Scottish Football League players English Football League players English Football League managers Footballers from Falkirk (council area) King's Park F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Scotland men's youth international footballers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen