{{short description|English footballer (1892-1977)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox football biography | name = James Denby | image = | fullname = James Denby | birth_date = {{birth date|1892|07|06|df=y}} | birth_place = Sutton-in-Ashfield, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1977|10|14|1892|07|06|df=y}} | death_place = Mansfield, England | height = 5ft 9in<ref name = FATS>{{cite book |last1=Chalk |first1=Gary |last2=Holley |first2=Duncan |last3=Bull |first3 =David |title=All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC| year=2013| location=Southampton |publisher=Hagiology Publishing|isbn=978-0-9926-8640-6|page=55}}</ref> | position = Half back | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = | years1 = 19??–1911 | clubs1 = Chesterfield | caps1 = | goals1 = | years2 = 1911–1915 | clubs2 = Southampton | caps2 = 127 | goals2 = 8 }} '''James Denby''' (6 July 1892 – 14 October 1977)<ref name = FATS/> was an English footballer, who played as a half back for Southampton in the Southern League from 1911 to 1915.
==Football career== Born in Sutton-in-Ashfield he started his career with Chesterfield. In the summer of 1911 Southampton's new manager George Swift spent £820 recruiting 11 new players including a return to his former club to sign Denby. Denby made his "Saints" debut in the opening match of the 1911–12 season, a 1–1 draw with Millwall.<ref>{{cite book | title=Saints – A complete record|last= Chalk|first= Gary|author2=Holley, Duncan | publisher= Breedon Books| year=1987| isbn= 0-907969-22-4|pages=50–51}}</ref>
Playing alongside Bert Lee and Jim McAlpine, he became an integral part of the team's defence up to the suspension of football in 1915. According to Holley & Chalk's "The Alphabet of the Saints", Denby was "a strong, reliable player (who) played in all three half-back positions with equal merit and was the team's defensive pivot."<ref>{{cite book | first1=Duncan |last1 =Holley| first2=Gary |last2= Chalk | title=The Alphabet of the Saints| publisher= ACL & Polar Publishing | year=1992|page=100| isbn=0-9514862-3-3}}</ref>
His steady influence had a considerable effect on team performances and an improvement in their defensive play. He continued to give the club sterling service up to the outbreak of World War I when he retired from professional football.<ref name = FATS/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denby, John}} Category:1892 births Category:1977 deaths Category:Footballers from Sutton-in-Ashfield Category:English men's footballers Category:Southern Football League players Category:Southampton F.C. players Category:Chesterfield F.C. players Category:Men's association football defenders Category:20th-century English sportsmen