Drummond, James

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Fullname: James Drummond
aka: Jimmy Drummond
Born: 1 December 1881*
Died: 28 April 1916**
Birthplace: Bellshill, Lanarkshire
Signed: 23 May 1901
Left: 1 February 1902
Position: Inside-Left
Debut: Morton 1-2 Celtic, League, 24 Aug 1901
Internationals: none
*See CGS Forum
** Source: http://www.thethistlearchive.net/jimmy-drummond

Biog

Jimmy Drummond, originally from Holytown (Lanarkshire), was a young inside-left who signed for Celtic in May 1901. He was signed up as a prospective successor for Sandy McMahon, who himself had a high opinion of Jimmy Drummond which was high praise indeed some may add.

He was said to show “passing ability above the average“, a good skill to have.

He made his debut in a 2-1 league win at Morton on 24th August 1901, but he was to struggle with injuries for much of the league campaign.

Having won a place in a game v Hearts on 2nd November 1901 (his first since early September) he looked “painfully unfit“, yet his solitary Celtic goal was in this 2-2 draw v Hearts. It was to be his last match for Celtic.

In total he played just four league game for Celtic, the aforementioned two plus also a 3-2 win over Third Lanark, and a 3-2 win over St Mirren. So despite the brief number of appearances, overall he had a very good record with Celtic to look back on.

Celtic were undefeated in the four games he played in, with the Celtic team scoring ten goals in those matches. Celtic were to lose the league to Rangers that season by just 2pts, and we can only now theorise if a fully fit Jimmy Drummond could have been the difference to help Celtic to the title.

Post-Celtic
Jimmy Drummond joined Manchester City alongside Willie McOustra in February 1902 (for the then enormous sum of £600) as the Scottish Cup run was under way and the league was over. Ex-Celtic player Tom Maley was the manager at Man City at this time.

Sadly, things didn’t pick up at Man City for him, where he was said to be “awkward and slow” and soon dropped down to their “Combination” side. He still managed to play around 28 games and score 5 goals for their first team. It looks like that he probably never did shake off the injuries.

He later moved to Partick Thistle in May 1904, with the transfer costing Thistle over £100 – £50 to Manchester City and the remainder to the player. In a season opener review in the Evening Times, the paper commentated:

“For the left wing a rattling good pair has been secured in [James] Drummond (Manchester City) and [John] Curran (Hamilton).”

However, James Drummond’s Partick Thistle career came to an end after just five games for the club. James Drummond had been unable to get a regular game, even in a team which wasn’t playing well, and he was said to often look unfit, so similar to the issues at Celtic & Man City.

His last game for Partick Thistle was in early October 1904 and his contract was terminated soon after. The player claimed to the SFA that Thistle had acted unfairly but Thistle replied that he had never been fit, and his allegation was dismissed. It is believed that he retired after this from the game in 1905.

From one source, it appears he passed away prematurely in 1916, aged 35. [TBC, http://www.thethistlearchive.net/jimmy-drummond ].

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

none

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