James Dargan
English footballer (1906-1985)

James Dargan (28 August 1906 – May 1985) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. Born in Manchester, he started his career with Cheshire League side Northwich Victoria in 1925 before moving to Football League Third Division North club Nelson in January 1928. Dargan made his debut for Nelson in the 3–4 defeat away at Rotherham United on 21 January 1928. He almost scored in the game, but his header was saved by the Rotherham goalkeeper, Tom Atter.
Dargan then spent three months out of the team, but returned to make his second and last Football League appearance in the 3–3 home draw with Crewe Alexandra on 21 April 1928. He was one of several players released by Nelson in the summer of 1928 and he subsequently returned to Northwich, where he stayed for two seasons. Dargan ended his career in non-league football, having short spells with Clitheroe and Barnoldswick Town in 1930, before playing out the 1930–31 campaign at Morecambe.
“James Dargan” enters the record as english footballer (1906-1985). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what James, Dargan and English can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6132345. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1906, 1985, 1925 and 1928.
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This entry incorporates text from “James Dargan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.