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James Thomson (footballer, fl. 1912–1928)

Scottish footballer (20th century)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 26, 2025
Entity authorityQ6144225 ↗
Source-derived summary

James Thomson (born in Dumbarton) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an outside left. During his career, he played for a number of clubs, including short spells at Clydebank Juniors, Renton, Manchester United, Dumbarton Harp and Clyde, followed by 11 years with St Mirren.

During his time at Manchester United, he made six appearances, scoring one goal, during the 1913–14 Football League season. He was part of the St Mirren team which won the Scottish Cup in 1926, beating Celtic (he had scored the winning goal in their semi-final victory over Rangers).

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “James Thomson (footballer, fl. 1912–1928)” is scottish footballer (20th century). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through James, Thomson and footballer, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1913, 1926—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1894. For this dossier, James, Thomson and footballer is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “scottish footballer (20th century)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

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 Aug 26, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6144225. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1913 and 1926.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “James Thomson (footballer, fl. 1912–1928)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow James Thomson (footballer, fl. 1912–1928) primary sources, James Thomson (footballer, fl. 1912–1928) archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Thomson (footballer, fl. 1912–1928)”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “James Thomson (footballer, fl. 1912–1928)” 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.