James McEwen (footballer)

James McEwen
In The Sketch, 18 November 1896
Personal information
Date of birth (1872-10-16)16 October 1872
Place of birth Bootle, England
Date of death May 1942(1942-05-00) (aged 69)
Place of death Barnes, England
Position(s) Full back
Youth career
Lansdowne
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1892–1893 Bootle 14 (0)
1893 Liverpool South End
1897–1898 Luton Town 30 (1)
1898–1899 Glossop North End 33 (1)
1899–1900 Glossop 21 (0)
1900–1903 Bury 102 (0)
1903–1905 Luton Town
1905–???? Norwich City
1911–1912 Glossop 2 (0)
Managerial career
1907–1908 Norwich City
1915–1919 Arsenal (de facto)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

James McEwen (16 October 1872 – May 1942), also known as Jimmy McEwen or "Punch" McEwen, was an English professional footballer and coach.

Biography

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McEwen started his playing career with Bootle, before moving south to join Luton Town. After one season, he then joined Glossop North End for their first season in the Football League. At the end of the season, North End gained promotion to the First Division. The club then changed their name to Glossop but finished the 1899–1900 season at the foot of the table.

McEwen then moved on to Bury, where he won the FA Cup in 1903, with a crushing 6–0 victory over Derby County. After three years at Gigg Lane, he returned for a spell at Luton Town (now in the Southern League), before joining Norwich City, initially as a player, before taking on the role of manager. McEwen was City's second manager, and was in charge for 43 matches between 1907 and 1908, winning 13, losing 20 and drawing 10 games[1]

After leaving Norwich City he returned to Glossop as a player for the 1911–12 season. He then joined Fulham as a scout before in 1914 he joined Arsenal's coaching staff, working under manager George Morrell.[2] After Morrell's resignation in 1915, McEwen took charge of first-team affairs at the club during the remainder of World War I, becoming the de facto caretaker manager of the team, which played in the London Combination.[2][3] After the war had ended he was replaced by Leslie Knighton for the start of the 1919–20 season, but McEwen continued to stay with the club, working as a dressing-room attendant[2] and as a coach under Herbert Chapman.[4]

He died at his home in Barnes in May 1942.[5]

Honours

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As a player

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Glossop North End

Bury

References

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  1. ^ "Manager History for Norwich City". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 12 December 2004. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Henry Norris' fall from grace in 1927: how Arsenal was run". Archived from the original on 11 June 2011.
  3. ^ Joy, Bernard (1952). Forward Arsenal!. Phoenix House. p. 26. "By April 1915 [...] the club had to dispense with Manager George Morrell and Coach 'Punch' McEwan [sic] got the teams together for the newly formed London Football Combination.
  4. ^ Cox, Richard William; Russell, Dave; Vamplew, Wray (2002). Encyclopedia of British Football. p. 61. ISBN 9780714652498.
  5. ^ "Death of 'Punch' McEwan". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 28 May 1942. p. 3. Retrieved 24 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.