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 Jimmy
was the leading player in St.
Louis when soccer in the Missouri city was first coming to national
prominence.
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Personal Information |
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Class of 1974 |
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Born: St. Louis, MO - August 21, 1898 |
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Died: St. Louis, MO |
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Position:
Forward |
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One of the finest
center forwards developed in St. Louis his career began in the St. Louis
Municipal League as a player with Christian Brothers College during the
1914-15 season. The team breezed through
the qualifying, and semi-final rounds and won the Amateur Championship by
defeating the Leacocks S.C. 4-2 at Fairgrounds Park before 15,000
enthusiasts. One year later with
Missouri Athletic Club he helped defeat his old team 3-1 in the same
competition as 10,000 fans watched. This led to his joining the famous
Ben Millers club in the St. Louis Professional Soccer League for the
1916-17 season, a season considered to be one of the most successful
seasons in the history of soccer in St. Louis. The Ben Millers won the
pennant in that year too with 10 wins, 8 ties and two defeats. In 1917 he enlisted in the United
States Navy and spent two years in the service of his country. But in 1919-20 he was back with Ben Millers
and the club went on to win the U.S. Open Cup with Jimmy scoring one of
the two goals that beat the Fore River team from Massachusetts. It was the first time that clubs from
eastern and western halves of the United States met for the
championship. He remained with
Ben Millers through the 1920-21, 1921-22, 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25,
1925-26 and 1926-27 seasons and between 1921 and 1927 scored 53
goals. Ben Millers won the city
title in 1925, 1926 and 1927 reaching the U.S. Open Cup final for the
second time in 1926, losing to Bethlehem Steel, but on that day he was
not in the line up being unable to get the time off from his work. Altogether he played for Ben Millers
for nine seasons and remained active in soccer until the 1970s. In 1973
he was awarded the Golden Boot, the highest honor in St. Louis soccer, at
the 18th annual CYC Ole Tymers Soccer Banquet.
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