James Hamilton Speirs MM (22 March 1886 – 20 August 1917) was a Scottish footballer who represented his country on one occasion, scored the winning goal in the 1911 FA Cup Final, and received the Military Medal during the First World War.
Born in Glasgow, he worked as a clerk while playing youth football for Annandale. He started his adult football career with local junior team Maryhill, where he played for less than a season, before he moved to Rangers in 1905. He spent three years with the club, but won only the Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup, before he joined a third Glasgow side Clyde. After one season, he left Clyde and Scotland, and joined Bradford City for their second season in the First Division. His greatest success came in his second season with Bradford, when he was the club's captain and goalscorer in their FA Cup Final victory of 1911, in a team featuring eight Scottish-born players.
He spent another two seasons with Bradford City, before he joined Leeds City, but after two seasons, the First World War broke out. League football continued for one more season, at the end of which Speirs returned to Glasgow.
Married with two young children, Speirs would have been exempt from conscription, but he volunteered to join the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in 1915. He was promoted to lance corporal, corporal and sergeant, and won the Military Medal for bravery in the field, but was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele in August 1917, at the age of 31.
Early life
Speirs was born on 22 March 1886 in the Govan area of Glasgow, Scotland, the fifth of six children of James Hamilton Speirs and Janet Shields Speirs (née McLean). By 1901, the family had moved to nearby Govanhill and Jimmy worked as a clerk. It was in Govanhill that Speirs' football ability was first shown, when he played in the junior football circuit on the black ash pitches of Glasgow, for Annandale, during summer tournaments.
Football career
Scotland
An inside forward, Speirs moved to Maryhill in the Glasgow Junior League in 1905. Maryhill, whose Lochburn Park ground was five miles north of Speirs' home, were among the top sides in the junior leagues, and lifted 13 trophies in eight seasons at the turn of the 20th century.
The 1904–05 team contained six junior internationals, and the side won three titles that season. Speirs' first recorded scoring appearance was on 29 April 1905, when his two goals helped Maryhill beat Parkhead 2–0. Speirs scored again in a 3–3 draw against Ashfield in the Glasgow Junior Cup final and scored the only goal of the replay to help Maryhill win the competition. Maryhill also won the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup and the league title although it is unknown if Speirs played in the cup final or picked up a league winners medal.
At the end of the season, Speirs and junior international John McFie both moved across Glasgow to First Division side Rangers, who had finished second to city rivals Celtic after losing out in a title play-off. Speirs did not make his full debut until 25 September 1905, when Rangers lost 5–0 to Heart of Midlothian at Ibrox. Speirs scored his first Rangers goal two weeks later during the next league game in a 4–1 win away to Port Glasgow.
In his first season, Speirs scored a hat-trick in a 7–1 Scottish Cup first round victory over Second Division Arthurlie and won the Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup, during which he scored twice in both the semi-final and final. However, Rangers could only finish fourth in the league, with Celtic retaining the title. Rangers improved to third place the following season as Speirs finished joint top scorer with 13 goals, but Celtic again were league winners. Celtic also defeated Rangers 3–0 in the Scottish Cup in front of 60,000 fans. Rangers' only trophy that season was the successful defence of the Merchants' Charity Cup, but Speirs did not play.
In 1907–08, Celtic once again finished top, with Rangers in third, and knocked their rivals out of the Scottish Cup. The two teams also met in the final of the Glasgow Cup, with Celtic winning in the second replay. Speirs was limited to 13 games, none of which Rangers lost, and he left after playing 62 matches, from which he scored 29 goals. During his final days with Rangers, he also won his only cap for Scotland, in a 2–1 win over Wales on 7 March 1908. Speirs won a representative cap 11 days later, when he played and scored for Glasgow during an inter-city fixture with Sheffield. The game finished 2–2.