James Cantrell: Centre Forward 

James Cantrell (7 May 1882 – 31 July 1960) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Notts County, Tottenham Hotspur and Sutton Town.

Football Career.

Cantrell began his professional career at Aston Villa. The inside forward played in 48 matches and found the net on 22 occasions for the club between 1904 and 1907. He moved to Notts County in 1907 where he was converted into the centre forward position. Top scorer in his three seasons at County he maintained a goal every other match ratio in 131 matches and scoring 64 goals in his time there. Tottenham Hotspur impressed by his goal scoring paid a substantial sum for his services in 1912. In a career interrupted by the First World War Cantrell lead the Spurs forward line that won the Football League Second Division in 1919-20 with a then record 70 points. He went on to collect a winner's medal in the 1921 FA Cup Final at the age of 38. He played his last match against Birmingham City just short of his 40th birthday making him the oldest Spurs player to feature in a League match. This record lasted until 6 May 2012 when Brad Friedel appeared for Tottenham Hotspur against Aston Villa in the Premier League. Cantrell remains the oldest outfield player to appear for Spurs. Cantrell played 176 times and scored on 84 occasions in all competitions between 1912 and 1922. He joined Midland League club Sutton Town on 8 October 1923, retiring in 1925.

Honours.

James won a 2nd Division Championship medal 1919/20

FA Cup winners medal 1920/21

After Football.

Cantrell returned to Nottingham where he became a golf professional. He died in Basford in 1960.

Source Wiki.

 

 

He seemed like a very effective player on goal. It’s nice to see his legacy being shared and continued.

for a player of that era he looks young and less like a gentleman which is just an observation. a lot of players looked like they did not get dirty on a saturday afternoon. this is a great part of our history.

One of the FA Cup winners for us? All these players should be honoured at the club, especially if they do open a museum. They have brought the greatest honour to the club, which is the FA Cup win. It will be years before we get that close again.

Just imagine @liampie what these players of yesteryear would have had to put up with. A leather ball with a bladder inside and laces to close it up, becoming twice as heavy or more in the wet and mud, then having to head a heavy ball like that. These players would have had to be made of the hard stuff. Then there's the pitches of yesteryear, hardly pristine surfaces like today. Then the gear they had to wear, hardly lightweight and cool.

Yet despite all of that, he remained fit enough to score all those goals in his career. 

 

4 minutes ago, Robbie said:

Just imagine @liampie what these players of yesteryear would have had to put up with. A leather ball with a bladder inside and laces to close it up, becoming twice as heavy or more in the wet and mud, then having to head a heavy ball like that. These players would have had to be made of the hard stuff. Then there's the pitches of yesteryear, hardly pristine surfaces like today. Then the gear they had to wear, hardly lightweight and cool.

Yet despite all of that, he remained fit enough to score all those goals in his career. 

the wage was probably a good living for them, but i do sometimes wonder what they would make of the fees spent today. if you could drag one from the past today, would they be bitter like steve cherry is on facebook or would they have felt they were worth it?

those old boots where something to wear i imagine, let alone the leather pigs bladder.

2 minutes ago, liampie said:

the wage was probably a good living for them, but i do sometimes wonder what they would make of the fees spent today. if you could drag one from the past today, would they be bitter like steve cherry is on facebook or would they have felt they were worth it?

those old boots where something to wear i imagine, let alone the leather pigs bladder.

My parents bought me a leather football with bladder and laces. My mates and I played on the rec with it. In the wet it was like a ball of concrete to head.

11 hours ago, Robbie said:

My parents bought me a leather football with bladder and laces. My mates and I played on the rec with it. In the wet it was like a ball of concrete to head.

We played with balls like that at primary school.  Our headteacher was old school and made us play 2 -3 -5 with inside halves etc so the heavy ball was part of the retro feel of our team.  We did come 2nd in the Newark Primary Schools league so it was pretty successful I guess. 

I'll look up some stuff on Horace Cope - he was my dad's uncle (I think).

Some additional I formation I've found about Jimmy Cantrell on the web.

https://archive.mehstg.com/fact_cantrell.htm

On 22/01/2024 at 23:42, True Magpie said:

One of the FA Cup winners for us? All these players should be honoured at the club, especially if they do open a museum. They have brought the greatest honour to the club, which is the FA Cup win. It will be years before we get that close again.

And what makes the win even more special, it was won in a time when the FA Cup was the creme del la creme, when they played their strongest team and every game was so competitive.

It's not now sadly.

@Robbie With limited playing options and no substitutes, it's even more remarkable to acknowledge that we won it with a squad that truly deserved to take home the cup.