John Sim (4 December 1922 – 14 January 2000), known as Jock, Jackie, or Johnny Sim, 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 ...

who played as a

centre 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 be ...

left half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

in 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 ...

for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

Life and career

Sim was born in

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 ...

in 1922. During the Second World War, he served abroad for five years. Afterwards, he joined Kirkintilloch Rob Roy from another

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

club, St Roch's, early in the 1946–47 season, scored freely, and within weeks was reportedly "in almost as great a demand as nylon stockings." He signed for English club

on 24 October, and scored on his

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 ...

debut three weeks later. He had a run in the side in his first season, but injury disrupted his career: he was restricted to just 14 appearances in the next two seasons and none at all in 1949–50. Ahead of the following campaign, he signed for

Chippenham Town Chippenham Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England. They are currently members of and play their games at Hardenhuish Park. History The club states it was established in 1873,

, together with three Brighton teammates, Eric Lancelotte,

Fred Leamon Frederick William Leamon (11 May 1919 – 29 July 1981) was a Jersey professional footballer who played in The Football League for Newport County, Bristol Rovers and Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as an international bowls player. Leamon was a ...

and Ken Davies. In March 1951, as part of the Western League record transfer that took

Rex Tilley Herbert Rex Tilley (16 February 1929 – 14 May 2016) was an English footballer who played as a wing half. He made 154 appearances in the Football League for Plymouth Argyle and Swindon Town. He began his career in non-league football with Chi ...

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 ...

, Sim returned to the

, but he never played first-team football for Argyle and was soon back with Chippenham. He stayed for three seasons, but turned down the terms offered for a fourth and was released. He later played for Calne Town. Sim died in

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

in 2000 at the age of 77.

References

1922 births 2000 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football wing halves Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Chippenham Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Calne Town F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players Western Football League players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-forward-1920s-stub