Debut:
02/09/1893 v Burnley (North Road) 3-2 (League Division One)
Farewell:
Transferred to Tottenham Hotspur, 05/1898, £
Passed Away:
09/03/1919
Biography
James McNaught goes down as arguably Newton Heath's finest footballer. Others hung around longer or scored more but, in terms of pure talent, he was of superior quality. James excelled when marauding in attack or conjuring in the half-back line. And his class is proven by the fact he also left lasting legacies both before and after his Heathen career.
A Scot, he was developed by Dumbarton, though, apparently, not fully: McNaught only reached 5'6" in height and weighed 9st 7lb at his peak. Little wonder they nicknamed him "The Little Wonder". After two years in Dumbarton's second string, he broke into the first team in 1890-91 at just the right time - it was the inaugural Scottish League campaign and inside-right James helped his team become champions. He also netted 5 goals in as many cup games, only to lose the final to Hearts. Eight goals from 21 games in 1891-92 yielded him another title medal as well as a couple of Dumbartonshire county caps.
It was this impressive resume that caught Newton Heath's attentions as they sought reinforcements for the promotion and relegation test matches at the end of their introductory Division One campaign of 1892-93. McNaught was one of three players signed right before the March 1st deadline, enticed from Dumbarton to Manchester with a job as a boilermaker and weekly wages of £4, £2 in the summer.
Ineligible for the next league match at Aston Villa, James acted as linesman instead, then he made a scoring debut in a friendly at Bootle on March 11th, 1893. Unluckily, he then dislocated his shoulder in a subsequent friendly (against Ardwick) and was out for the rest of that season, including the playoff games for which he was originally obtained!
McNaught eventually made his Newton Heath bow on September 2nd, 1893, Bank Street's opening day. He would go on to become a mainstay of the team, missing a mere nine league games over five years. Though initially an inside-forward, he switched to half-back in March 1894 and proceeded to impress with his majestic passing and fine reading of the game. He did spend the first half of 1896-97 back in the front ranks before reverting to centre-half, and he was a member of the eleven that defeated Blackburn on March 26th, 1898, to make Heath the first Division Two side to win the Lancashire Cup.
Earlier that year the intelligent and well-respected Scot had represented Heath in the initial meeting of the Association Footballers' Union, the predecessor of the PFA. But, later that summer, his time with Heath came to an end. Southern League side Tottenham Hotspur lured him south with wages of £4.10 a week and a massive £50 signing-on bonus.
James spent seven years with Tottenham, often as captain, and, though he guided them to the Southern League title in 1899-00, he was only twelfth man when they won the FA Cup a year later. A nasty injury kept him out of most of 1902-03, and he doubled up as coach in his last few campaigns, until his final outing against Portsmouth on March 3rd, 1906. McNaught spent the next three years with Maidstone before finally retiring in 1909. He passed away in March 1919 after a four and a half year illness. Biography kindly provided by Charbel Boujaoude.
