{{short description|Scottish doctor and footballer}} {{Other people|James Paterson|James Paterson (disambiguation){{!}}James Paterson}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox football biography | name= Jimmy Paterson | image= | fullname= James Alexander Paterson | height= {{height|ft=5|in=6+1/2}}<ref>{{cite news |title=First Division prospects. Arsenal |author=The Vagrant |newspaper=Athletic News |location=Manchester |date=22 August 1921 |page=5}}</ref> | position= Outside left | birth_date= 9 May 1891 | birth_place= Chelsea, England | death_date= {{death date and age|1959|08|31|1891|05|09|df=y}} | death_place= Newmilns, Scotland | youthyears1= | youthclubs1= Queen's Park | youthyears2= | youthclubs2= | years1= 1910–1916 | clubs1= Rangers | caps1= 120 | goals1= 27 | years2= 1919–1920 |clubs2= Rangers | caps2= 36 | goals2= 11 |years3= 1920–1924 |clubs3= Arsenal | caps3= 69 | goals3= 0 | years4= 1926 |clubs4= Arsenal | caps4= 1 | goals4= 1 | totalcaps = 226 | totalgoals = 39 |nationalyears1= 1921 |nationalteam1= Football League XI |nationalcaps1= 1 |nationalgoals1= 0 }} '''James Alexander Paterson''' MC (9 May 1891 – 31 August 1959) was a Scottish doctor and footballer who played as an outside left.
==Life and career== Born in London but brought up in Glasgow, Paterson was on the books of both Rangers and Queen's Park as an amateur, whilst training as a doctor.<ref name = "mitchell"/> He won the Scottish Football League championship with Rangers in 1912–13 and a Glasgow Cup the following season and played regularly until graduating in 1916.<ref>[http://www.fitbastats.com/rangers/player.php?playerid=1733 Rangers player Paterson, James], FitbaStats</ref><ref name = "mitchell"/> With World War I in full effect, he joined the London Scottish Regiment and served as a medical officer, winning the Military Cross for his bravery in action in France in 1917.<ref name = "mitchell"/><ref>[http://www.scotlandswar.co.uk/paterson_ja.html Major James Alexander Paterson] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616004447/http://www.scotlandswar.co.uk/paterson_ja.html |date=16 June 2020 }}, Scotland's War</ref> After the war ended, Paterson was posted to a Scottish hospital and played one further season with Rangers in 1919–20 (making a surprise but successful return despite being overweight and untrained), winning the championship for a second time.<ref name = "mitchell"/><ref name=litsterprewar>{{cite journal|title=A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players|author=John Litster|publisher=Scottish Football Historian magazine|date=October 2012}}</ref>
He moved to London to share a medical practice in Clapton with his brother-in-law, John L. Scott, who was also the Arsenal team doctor.<ref name = "mitchell"/><ref name=tale>[https://blog.woolwicharsenal.co.uk/archives/10425 Dr Jimmy Paterson: unravelling a curious tale and pack of lies], The History of Arsenal, 5 June 2014</ref> Paterson was persuaded to sign for Arsenal as an amateur and made his debut on the left wing against Derby County on 30 October 1920. Paterson became a regular fixture in the Arsenal side that season, and even played for the English Football League XI against the Scottish Football League XI<ref name = "mitchell"/> (he had been ineligible to represent Scotland due to his birthplace under the rules of the time).<ref name=tale/> He was out the side in 1921–22, before returning to play over 20 games in both the 1922–23 and 1923–24 seasons.<ref>{{cite web|url =http://thearsenalhistory.com/stat/aftlu.htm|title=Arsenal First Team Line-Ups |website=The Arsenal History|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025259/http://thearsenalhistory.com/stat/aftlu.htm|accessdate=16 June 2020}}</ref> While he was not paid as a professional, some valuable gifts were bestowed on him during his career including a silver tea service from Rangers and a piano from Arsenal.<ref name = "mitchell"/>
An anecdote by the ''Times'' columnist Brian Glanville recounted how once, when given a bunch of daffodils by a girl in the crowd for one match, Paterson played on the wing with them in his hand for several minutes before finding a place to put them.<ref name=tale/><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2093-2168432.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20110604071714/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2093-2168432.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=4 June 2011 | work=The Times | title=Future is bright after farewell to Highbury | author=Glanville, Brian | accessdate=16 October 2006 | location=London | date=7 May 2006}}</ref>
He retired from football in the summer of 1924 to concentrate on his medical practice, only to make a surprise return to the Arsenal side two years later after being persuaded by Herbert Chapman.<ref name = "mitchell"/> Against Newcastle United on 13 February 1926, he scored his only ever league goal, in a 3–0 win,<ref name=tale/> and he then played in three FA Cup ties against Aston Villa (twice, scoring in the replay) and Swansea Town. In all he made 77 appearances for Arsenal, scoring two goals.
Paterson continued to work in medical practice until his retirement in the 1950s.<ref name = "mitchell"/> He died of a heart attack in 1959, aged 68.<ref name = "mitchell">{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/top-football-stories/dr-jimmy-paterson-the-good-doctor-of-rangers-and-arsenal-1-2912036 |title=Dr Jimmy Paterson: The good doctor of Rangers and Arsenal |work=The Scotsman |publisher=Johnston Publishing |first=Andy |last=Mitchell |date=27 April 2013 |accessdate=27 April 2013}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
;Sources *{{cite book | last=Harris|first=Jeff|editor-last=Hogg|editor-first=Tony | title=Arsenal Who's Who | publisher=Independent UK Sports | year=1995 | isbn=1-899429-03-4 }} *{{cite book | author=Joy, Bernard | title=Forward Arsenal! | publisher=Phoenix House | year=1952 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Jimmy}} Category:1891 births Category:1959 deaths Category:Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Category:London Scottish officers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Recipients of the Military Cross Category:Scottish men's footballers Category:20th-century Scottish medical doctors Category:Men's association football wingers Category:People educated at Bellahouston Academy Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow Category:Rangers F.C. players Category:Queen's Park F.C. players Category:Arsenal F.C. players Category:Footballers from Glasgow Category:Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Category:Scottish Football League players Category:English Football League players Category:English Football League representative players Category:Anglo-Scots Category:People from Newmilns Category:People from Chelsea, London Category:20th-century Scottish sportsmen