James William "Judy" Masters (21 May 1892 – 2 December 1955) was a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who captained the Australia national team in five matches in 1923 and 1924. He was recognised as one of Australia's best players of his time. In over 400 club and representative games he was never cautioned.

Biography

Masters was born in 1892 to Alexander George Masters and Frances Eliza Masters,

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Campbell and was one of thirteen children. His father had been a miner born in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

and his mother was from Sydney. Masters first captained the Balgownie Public School team at the age of 12.

Club career

He then joined Balgownie Rangers Soccer Club (the oldest surviving football club in Australia) in 1904, gaining selection for the senior side at the age of 15 in 1907 after being coached by Tom Thompson, and played alongside Dave Ward and Frank Smith. Masters went on to captain Balgownie Rangers, South Coast FC, and received representative honours with

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(who he first played for in 1908 when 16, at inside-right), then Granville and

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

after enlisting at the Liverpool barracks before departing for service at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

and in France. He led an

AIF AIF, A.I.F., AiF or aif may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Argumenty i Fakty'' (AiF), a Russian newspaper * Australians in Film (AiF), a Los Angeles-based organisation for the promotion of Australian actors and filmmakers * Aspen Ideas ...

team which was formed in France after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

in 1918. When he returned to Australia, Masters rejoined Balgownie in their undefeated 1921 championship side.

International career

Masters appeared 22 times for Australia including six full international matches. He was captain of Australia five times in full internationals. His first match for the national side came in 1924 in a B international against a Chinese Universities team on 8 August, when he scored four times. He was captain of Australia in: five games against the Chinese Universities team in 1923, all five tests against Canada in 1924, and three games against FC Bohemians Praha of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in 1927.

Outside football

While playing Masters worked as a miner at the

Corrimal Corrimal is a suburb north of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Lederer Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall next ...

coal mine. After retiring, he became an executive officer for the South Coast Soccer Association. For over a decade Masters was master of the Balgownie Citizens' Band.

Military service

Masters served in the Australian Imperial Force between 1915 until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was in the front line at

and later at the Western Front. In 1916, at

Pozières Pozières (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D929 road, northeast of Amiens between Albert and Bapaume, on the Pozières ridge. Southwest of the village ...

on the Western Front, Masters was injured in the shoulder.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Australia goal.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, James 1892 births 1955 deaths Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Australian military personnel of World War I Judy Men's association football forwards Soccer players from Wollongong 20th-century Australian sportsmen