Players - Jimmy Ross

Jimmy Ross
Birthdate: 28 March 1866
Birthplace: Edinburgh, Scotland
Date of death: 12 June 1902
Other clubs: St Bernard's (1882-84), Preston North End (1884-94), Burnley (1897-99), Manchester City (1899-1902)
Signed from: Preston North End
Signed for LFC: £75, 19.08.1894
Liverpool debut: 13.09.1894
Last appearance: 13.02.1897
Debut goal: 13.09.1894
Last goal: 30.01.1897
Contract expiry: 23.03.1897
Win ratio: 48.24% W:41 D:13 L:31
Games/goals ratio: 2.18
Honours: Second Division 1895/96
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 5 / 1
League games / goals: 73 / 37
Total games / goals: 85 / 39

Player Profile

Liverpool showed their intent by paying a club record fee of £75 for double League champion inside-right Jimmy Ross from Preston's "Invincibles" in 1894. It was an ambitious signing as Ross was a legend at Preston, scoring 18 goals in the club's undefeated season. He was the League's top-scorer in 1889/90 with 24 goals and scored seven goals in Preston's record 26-0 win over Hyde in the 1887/88 season. The transfer didn’t go through without a hitch, as the Liverpool Review reported on 25 August 1894: "Since the Liverpool club signed him on from Preston, Jimmy has exhibited a reluctance to carry out his bargain with his new club. A note appeared in the papers the other day that Jimmy was determined not to play for Liverpool on any account, chiefly because his brother, the late famous Nick Ross, had on his deathbed expressed a desire that Jimmy should not desert the North End, for whom they had both been playing for the last ten years. This being the case, the relations of Jimmy Ross towards the Liverpool club are at the time of writing somewhat strained and awkward, but as he has duly ‘signed on’, and as the Liverpool club have paid some £75 down for his transfer, the probability is that if the Anfield people wish to press their claim Jimmy will be found duly in his place on the fine Anfield sward when Aston Villa opens the season for the Liverpudlians in two weeks’ time."

Ross took over as Liverpool captain from Andrew Hannah midway through his debut season and ran the show, pretty much, at Anfield in his first two years at the club. He had incredible technique, precise passes and was good with both feet. He was a joker on the pitch, an entertainer in every sense of the word. Twelve goals from 27 league matches was not a bad return during a season when the club managed only 51 from 30 games and were relegated straight back to the Second Division. Ross, who wore the captain's armband, played as a centre-forward as well on the right wing and banged in 23 goals from 25 league games when the club made an immediate return to the top division. But in his third campaign, even though Liverpool did finally establish themselves as a first division club by finishing in a very creditable fifth place, Ross only found the net three times from 21 matches.

Late in the 1896/97 season Ross joined Burnley along with teammate Malcolm McVean and their first match was at Anfield only a week later. Burnley beat Liverpool 2-1 but didn't do enough to prevent their relegation. Burnley won the Second Division the following season with Ross scoring an impressive 23 goals in 27 league matches. Ross only played half a season in First Division before joining Manchester City who were on their way to the second division title. Ross scored 21 goals in 67 games for City, but ill-health forced him to retire from the game in the 1901/02 season. Ross contracted an acute skin disease, Erysipelas, succumbed to raging fever and passed away only 36 years of age on 12 June 1902. His coffin was covered with wreaths and floral tributes, one from Preston North End bearing the following appropriate inscription: “In memory of one of the old Invincibles".
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 73 7 0 0 5 85
1894-1895 27 3 0 0 1 31
1895-1896 25 2 0 0 4 31
1896-1897 21 2 0 0 0 23
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
7 630 WBA
5 450 Nottingham Forest
4 360 Bolton Wanderers
4 360 Stoke City
4 360 Sunderland
4 360 Sheffield United
4 360 Birmingham City
3 270 Sheffield Wednesday
3 270 Burton Swifts
3 270 Blackburn Rovers
3 270 Derby
3 270 Everton
3 270 Wolves
3 270 Bury
3 270 Preston North End
2 180 Leicester City
2 180 Burnley
2 180 Arsenal
2 180 Manchester United
2 180 Newcastle United
2 180 Rotherham Town
2 180 Grimsby Town
2 180 Notts County
2 180 Burton Wanderers
2 180 Port Vale
2 180 Barnsley
1 90 Millwall
1 90 Darwen
1 90 Loughborough
1 90 Crewe
1 90 Aston Villa
1 90 Lincoln City
1 90 Manchester City
Total Venue
43 Home
41 Away
1 Neutral
Total Competition
73 League
7 FA Cup
5 Test Match
Total W D L Win % Manager
31 8 7 16 25.8% William Edward Barclay
31 21 2 8 67.7% John McKenna
23 12 4 7 52.2% Tom Watson
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 37 2 0 0 0 39
1894-1895 12 0 0 0 0 12
1895-1896 23 1 0 0 0 24
1896-1897 2 1 0 0 0 3
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 13.09.1894 Bolton Wanderers Anfield League
50 11.01.1896 Woolwich Arsenal Anfield League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 40 13.09.1894 Bolton Wanderers Anfield League
Related Articles
Jimmy Ross “The Joker”

The Lancashire Evening Post on 12 June, 1902.

Liverpool on derby day 1894

Go back to October 1894 when Everton and Liverpool met at Goodison Park. A neutral observer witnessed the match and paints a vivid scene of a Merseyside derby day 118 years ago!

The “little demon” is dead

From Burnley Express on 14 June 1902.

Internal problems at Anfield

Article from the London Football Evening News on 6 March 1897 on Ross's exclusion from the first team.

1893-1896: Liverpool rocking between 2nd and 1st division

After winning the Lancashire league Liverpool's climb up the league ladder started in 2nd division. A real fairytale season was ahead and the club's biggest game to date against the most famous club in England in the FA Cup.

Liverpool run riot at Anfield

From 'Liverpool - A Complete History 1892-1986' on Liverpool - Rotherham United on 18.02.1896.

Ross' transfer not straightforward

The transfer of Jimmy Ross didn't go through without a hitch as the Liverpool Review reported on 25 August 1894.

Scrapbook
Jimmy Ross - Memories of the past
Jimmy Ross - Memories of the past
Obituary - 14 June 1902
Obituary - 14 June 1902
Profile of Preston and Ross in 1889!
Profile of Preston and Ross in 1889!
The Pompey scandal - 13 June 1903
The Pompey scandal - 13 June 1903
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
St Bernard's N/A N/A N/A N/A
Preston North End 1888-1889 England First Division 21 19 26 21
Preston North End 1889-1890 England First Division 21 19 24 21
Preston North End 1890-1891 England First Division 13 5 13 5
Preston North End 1891-1892 England First Division 26 16 29 18
Preston North End 1892-1893 England First Division 25 8 32 9
Preston North End 1893-1894 England First Division 24 18 27 25
Burnley 1896-1897 England First Division 4 1 7 1
Burnley 1897-1898 England Second Division 27 23 34 25
Burnley 1898-1899 England First Division 20 5 22 6
Manchester City 1898-1899 England Second Division 9 7 9 7
Manchester City 1899-1900 England First Division 26 10 27 11
Manchester City 1900-1901 England First Division 25 3 26 3
Manchester City 1901-1902 England First Division 7 1 8 1
Total 248 135 284 153