Jimmy McMenemy

Jimmy McMenemy

Mohammed Salim having his feet bandaged, due to him playing barefoot, by Jimmy McMenemy the Celtic trainer, 1936.
Personal information
Full name	James McMenamin
Date of birth	11 October 1880
Place of birth	Rutherglen, Scotland
Date of death	23 June 1965 (Aged 84)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
?–1902	Rutherglen Glencairn
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1902–1920	Celtic	456	(144)
1920–1923	Partick Thistle
National team
1905–1920	Scotland	12	(5)
1909–1920	Scottish League XI	13	(2)
Teams managed
1934–1940	Celtic (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

James "Jimmy" McMenemy (born James McMenamin; 11 October 1880 – 23 June 1965) was a Scottish footballer who most notably played for Celtic from 1902 to 1920 and later became assistant manager to Willie Maley in 1934.

James was born in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire on 11 October 1880 to parents John McMenamin and Hannah Regan. James' father John curiously adopted the name 'McMenamin' after he moved to Scotland from County Tyrone. John's brother, also called James, settled in Rutherglen during the same period with his wife Ann Smith but maintained the traditional spelling 'McMenemy'. This - and also due to the player himself using both styles - has led to some mis-attributing of the player's date of birth to that of his cousin James McMenemy, born at Rutherglen on 23 August 1880.

Nicknamed "Napoleon" due to an apparent resemblance to Napoleon Bonaparte, James McMenemy began his career playing for junior team Rutherglen Glencairn, leaving in 1902 to become part of the Celtic team that won six league titles in a row between season 1903-04 and season 1909-10. He was also part of the team that defeated Rangers 3-2 in the 1904 Scottish Cup Final after being down 2-0. In 1920, aged forty, McMenemy left Celtic and joined Partick Thistle where, in April 1921, he helped them to their one and only Scottish Cup victory, beating Rangers 1-0. McMenemy won seven Scottish Cup medals altogether - in 1904, 1907, 1908, 1911, 1912, 1914 and 1921. He also played 12 times for the Scotland national team, scoring 5 goals and also represented the Scottish League XI 13 times, scoring twice.

James' own son, John, won a Scottish Cup medal for Celtic in 1927 and a Scottish League Championship medal for Motherwell in 1932, and his other son, Harry, played for Newcastle United.Lawrie McMenemy, the former manager of Southampton and many other teams, is a distant relation.