Gentleman Jim, a true football hero
Modest, kind & unassuming.. the wartime evacuee who captained his country and captured the nation’s hearts
I went on to captain my country.” For much of his playing career Jimmy earned just £5 or £10 a week, eventually working his way up to £20 a week as England captain. He played 627 games for Blackpool, captaining the team for a decade. He is regularly named the club’s favourite player of all time, ahead of the legendary Sir Stanley Matthews. He was given the freedom of Blackpool in 2003 and a civic reception to celebrate his 70th birthday. For his 80th, he fulfilled a dream by playing the Wurlitzer at a dinner dance at Blackpool Tower Ballroom, where he went with wife Anne on their first date before they wed in 1958. Jimmy felt the same love for his adopted town. He lived the last 50 years of his life in the same house, set just a two streets back from the promenade on Blackpool beach. He said: “Blackpool has been good to me. When I drive home and I can see the Tower, I always think the sky looks brighter.” A pillar of the community, Jimmy served as HighSheriff of Lancashire, president of Age UK Blackpool, was a governor at his old school, and an organist at his local church. He was awarded a CBE for services to Lancashire in 2000. Ever modest, he played down the accolade, saying. “Some might say pillock of the community, but I do my best,” he joked.
Jimmy was forced to put his commentating career with the BBC on hold as he battled cancer in 2007, but believed his career as an energetic footballer, combined with the care he received from his “personal nurse” Anne helped him beat the disease.
He returned to work next year to commentate at Bolton and found a note welcoming him, signed by Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton. It read: “We have missed you.”
Indeed Jimmy, who leaves his wife and sons Duncan and John, will be missed across the country.
Sir Bobby Charlton said last night: “As opponent, team-mate and friend he was, without doubt, one of the most honest and genuine gentlemen I had the good fortune to meet.”