by Tony Attwood
Dr James Marshall known as Jimmy was born 3 January 1908 in Avonbridge, in Stirlingshire and started out with junior club Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow (a club still in existence) before joining Rangers in 1925.
Dr Marshall stayed at Rangers for nine years, winning the league five times, the cup three times, and gaining three caps for his country, all of them curiously, against England.
His league figures with Rangers were extraordinary – 257 games and 138 goals – a remarkable number for an inside forward who would normally be expected to be playing behind the front three (outsides left and right, and the centre forward).
Dr Marshall however was not going to let the poorly paid life of a professional footballer get in the way of his long term profession as a doctor and so when a suitable medical job arose in London he decided to leave Rangers and head south in July 1934.
Rangers had no option but to sell the player although at first, Arsenal denied any interest however when he did finally move it was with an enormous fanfare.
From Rangers he moved to Arsenal, and his signing was handled with a huge amount of expectation as the second cutting below shows.
But then there was a change of mind, or perhaps more likely, a fee was agreed and the press became rather excited.
He played his first match against Blackburn on September 17, n a 2-0 defeat. Although Dr Marshall might have been the next Alex James, the current Alex James was still in the team, and James played 30 league games that season. Ray Bowden was solidly entrenched in the other inside forward position, and when he was injured Bobby Davidson took over.
| Years | Team | Lge Games | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shettleston | |||
| 1925–1934 | Rangers | 257 | 138 |
| 1934–1935 | Arsenal | 4 | 0 |
| 1935–1937 | West Ham United | 59 | 14 |
| National team | |||
| 1932–1934 | Scotland | 3 | 0 |
| 1932 | Scottish League XI | 1 | 0 |
This site is based around series of articles on specific themes – and you can find links to many of these on this page and on the left column under the heading “Pages”.
Here are some of the more popular series that have been written recently or are actively being updated at the moment.
- Arsenal in the 30s
- Arsenal players in the 30s
- Arsenal in the summer – now over 50 articles.
- The First League Season, including a review of each player who played in that season
- Arsenal day by day – over 5000 anniversaries of the club
- Arsenal in the 70s
- Tom Whittaker, player, coach, manager
