James White (21 August 1899 – August 1983) was a Scottish

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 spent most of his career playing for Fall River in the American Soccer League. He was born in

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Airdrie (; ; ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau 400 ft (130 m) above sea level, 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow. , it had a population of 37,130. Airdrie developed as a market town in the late 17th ce ...

, Scotland.

Playing career

In 1920, White signed with

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They play in the , the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. Founded in October 1882, the club joined the Scottish Foot ...

of the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

and helped them reach the

1920 Scottish Cup final The 1919–20 Scottish Cup was the 42nd staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Kilmarnock who defeated Albion Rovers in the final.Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

; his brother Jock was also in the side (two other brothers,

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

and Tom, were also footballers – all four played together for Heart of Midlothian in the

Lord Provost's Rent Relief Cup The Lord Provost's Rent Relief Cup comprised two separate football tournaments played in aid of the Lord Provost's Rent Relief Fund in 1921. Held in Edinburgh and Glasgow, both were one-off competitions. Various other tournaments and events were he ...

final of 1923 which their side won through two goals from Jock).Hall of Fame , Jock White (2018)
Heart of Midlothian FC Record of pre-war Scottish League Players John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012 He spent two seasons with Albion before joining Maidstone United of the English Southern League in 1923. After one season with Maidstone, White transferred to

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. White was one of several players who were recruited from the

Sam Mark Samuel Mark (born Markelevich; September 22, 1896 – August 9, 1980) was an American soccer club owner. During the 1920s and early 1930s he was the owner of Fall River FC, often referred to as the ''Marksmen'', one of the era's most successful ...

to play for Fall River Others included Tommy Martin, also from Motherwell, Charlie McGill from

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

and wing-half Bill McPherson from

Beith Beith (locally ) is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) afte ...

. These players would become the backbone of the very successful 'Marksmen' team during the 1920s and early 1930s. In later seasons his teammates also included, among others,

Billy Gonsalves Adelino William Gonsalves (August 10, 1908 – July 17, 1977) was an American soccer player, sometimes described as the "Babe Ruth of American Soccer". He spent over 25 years playing in various American professional leagues and was a member of ...

Bert Patenaude Bertrand "Bert" Arthur Patenaude (; November 4, 1909November 4, 1974) was an American soccer player who played as a forward. Although it was formerly disputed, he is officially credited by FIFA as the scorer of the first hat-trick in World Cup ...

Werner Nilsen Werner "Scotty" Nilsen (February 4, 1904 – May 10, 1992) was a former soccer player who played as a forward. He is one of the highest scoring players in United States soccer history, scoring 131 goals in 239 games with the Boston Soccer Club. ...

and

Alex McNab Alexander McNab (27 December 1894 – 3 April 1960) was a Scottish-American soccer player and coach. He began his career in Scotland before moving to the United States. In the US, he won six consecutive National Challenge Cups with teams from b ...

. Between 1925 and 1931, White made 243 league appearances and scored 111 goals for the 'Marksmen' in the American Soccer League, helping them win five league titles. He also helped them win the

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

three times, scoring two goals in the 1927 final against Holley Carburetor F.C. . He also played for the 'Marksmen' in friendlies against

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 ...

and

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

and in 1930 was a member of the 'Marksmen' squad that toured Central Europe. In 1931 when

relocated and merged the 'Marksmen' franchise twice, White followed the team on both occasions. They first moved to New York City, where they merged with

New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club was the name of a New York soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant Maurice Vandeweghe - the father and grandfather of later basketball stars Ernie and Kiki Van ...

and became the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. In the summer of 1931, White played for a Yankees team featuring

and George Moorhouse that twice played

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in friendlies. On 30 May at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

the Yankees won 4–3. However, on 28 June at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

, Celtic won the second game 4–1. The Yankees then moved to

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...

where they merged with

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

to become the

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer Leag ...

. With the Whalers, White won a further two American Soccer League titles and the 1932 National Challenge Cup. On 3 April 1932 he scored the opening goal in a 5–2 win against Stix, Bear and Fuller in the second leg of the final."New Bedford Defeats Stix, 5-2, To Win U.S. Soccer Title". (4 April 1932). ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', p.2C col.1-2

Honours

Fall River F.C. * American Soccer League **''Winners'' 1925–26, 1928–29, Fall 1929, Spring 1930, Fall 1930: 5 *

**''Winners'' 1927, 1930, 1931: 3 *

Lewis Cup The Lewis Cup was an American soccer trophy established in 1914 as the championship trophy for the amateur Blue Mountain League, which was composed of clubs from the Lehigh Valley region of northeastern Pennsylvania. It was later awarded to the win ...

**''Winners'' 1930: 1 **''Runners Up'' 1925: 1 *

American Cup The American Football Association Challenge Cup (also known as the American Association Cup or simply American Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1884, and organised by t ...

**''Runners Up'' 1924: 1 New Bedford Whalers * American Soccer League **''Winners'' Fall 1931, Spring 1932: 2 *

**''Winners'' 1932: 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, James 1899 births 1983 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Albion Rovers F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Motherwell F.C. players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players New York Yankees (soccer) players New Bedford Whalers players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Brookhattan players Footballers from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States People from Assonet, Massachusetts Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish Football League players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen