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Fullname: James Park Nelson
aka: James Nelson
Born: 1 December 1921
Died: […]
Birthplace: Lanark
Signed: 14 August 1941 (from Douglas Water Primrose)
Left: 1943 (to Vale of Leven)
Position: Outside-Left
Debut: Celtic 2-0 Queen’s Park, Regional League, 30 Aug 1941
Internationals: none
Biog
James Nelson signed on for the Hoops in August 1941. He made his debut at outside-left in a Regional League match at Celtic Park in which Celtic defeated Queen’s Park 2-0 on August 30th.
He was the younger brother to Arsenal player David Nelson who made a solitary appearance for Celtic as a guest in the wartime Regional League.
His three goals came in a purple patch of matches, in September & October 1941, scoring three goals in four games in a 5-2 win over Clyde, 3-1 win over Hibernian and a 2-1 draw over St Mirren.
Possibly, he holds a near unique feat at Celtic. After a defeat to Rangers on Ne’er Day, he lost his place for the following game v Clyde on 3rd January 1942 to his older brother (David Nelson). His brother was at Celtic on loan at the time and guested for just this one game. James Nelson had been a regular for a period in the first half of season 1941/42 till this point, so losing a place to his older brother might have been a slight dig in the ribs.
After that, James Nelson only played once more for Celtic, in a 2-2 draw with Dumbarton on 8 August 1942.
Celtic actually had one of their better seasons during the war period in season 1941/42, finishing third in the league, and James Nelson on paper had a fine record in the circumstances.
Overall, James Nelson had scored 3 goals in 14 league games during his time with Celtic, but was released by Celtic in February 1943.
Must add that this was wartime, so not an easy time for any player to be at the club, especially as Celtic were a shambles throughout the whole of the 1940s (at both team and board level).
He moved to Vale of Leven who during the war years had made the difficult decision to step down from senior to junior level football. It helped to ensure their long-term survival.
He was to move onto Wishaw Juniors, Coltness Utd (1946), Douglas Water Thistle (1947) and Douglasdale before wrapping up with Shotts Bon Accord (Sep 1950).
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | REGIONAL LEAGUE |
SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1941-43 | 14 | – | – | – | 14 |
| Goals | 3 | – | – | – | 3 |
Honours with Celtic
None
Pictures
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