Biography
Fiery inside left Jimmy Howieson joined the Tigers in March 1927 for a £3,200 fee, fresh from being awarded his first (and it transpired, only) Scotland international cap while at his previous club St Mirren. City’s manager Bill McCracken put him straight into the first team at inside left and in his sixth appearance he scored his first goal for the club, notching an April 1927 brace in a 5-1 defeat of Barnsley. He added another goal two weeks later in a 2-1 win over Darlington and things looked well set, despite being sent off for kicking a Oldham opponent on the penultimate day of the season.
Howieson was not selected for the first seven games of the 1927/28 season as he served his suspension but by October 1927 McCracken had reintroduced the Scotsman at inside left and Jimmy retained that position for the majority of the season, save for an absence in January and February 1928. However he scored only four times during the season and his reputation was perhaps a little faded when in August 1928 he headed for the USA on a ship called the Columbia. On arrival he signed for American Soccer League side New Bedford Whalers where he scored a few goals and played alongside Jerry Best, a future Tiger who hailed from the North East of England.
He also had a short spell playing for New York Giants after the US league system split in two, before returning to England in June 1929 and re-signing for Hull City – the Tigers held his registration in the UK so he couldn’t play for any other English sides without the club’s consent. Energised by his time in the States, the 1929/30 season was a success for Howieson as he played regularly for much of the term and contributed to Hull City’s progress to the FA Cup Semi Final, scoring the winner in the Sixth Round replay against Newcastle United and the opening goal at Elland Road in the Semi Final against Arsenal, which ended a 2-2 draw. As City’s management focused on their Cup run, form in the league suffered and the club was relegated in May 1930 – Howieson was made available for transfer during the 1930 close season.
James “Jimmy” Howieson was born in Rutherglen, within sight of the River Clyde in the eastern suburbs of Glasgow, and grew up the son of a tavern owner in Bridgeton, a mile away on the north bank of the river. He became a trainee marine engineer when he left school as a teenager then enlisted for the Royal Navy in 1917 when a hand injury halted his engineering career. After giving four years of service in the military he paid for his release in 1921 started playing for his local junior side Rutherglen Glencairn. In November 1921 he was snapped up by Scottish League Division One side Airdrieonians, a club he served for three seasons. In May 1924 he moved on to Perth-based side St Johnstone, during the latter part of the 1924/25 season he was allowed to play Scottish Cup ties for St Mirren while still playing League games for St Johnstone.
Jimmy joined Dundee United in July 1925 and scored five goals in his 10 appearances for the Tannadice side. In October 1925 a £1,000 fee was enough to lure Dundee United to sell Howieson to St Mirren. He spent two seasons with the Buddies, scored the winning goal in the April 1926 Scottish Cup final against Celtic and impressed enough to win an international cap in February 1927. He left St Mirren a month later to join Hull City, with the Love Street tripling their original transfer outlay.
Howieson left Hull City in May 1930 but was still registered to the Tigers and was unable to play for other English sides. After rejecting the chance to return to the USA in May 1930, Howieson joined Irish Free State League side Shelbourne in June 1930 and won an Irish League winners’ medal in May 1931. He returned to Scotland in the 1931 close season while expressing his dissatisfaction with the standard of the Irish game, however when no better offers transpired Jimmy returned to Shelbourne in August 1931 for a second season in Dublin.
In March 1932 he nearly severed his ties with Hull City and joined Scottish League Division One side Clyde but the move broke down at the last minute. Eventually he made the move to Clyde in September 1932 when City’s required transfer fee of £3,000 had a zero knocked off it. He served Clyde for two seasons before joining Scottish League Division Two side Alloa Athletic in September 1934, but a month later in October 1934 he returned to Ireland and briefly joined Irish League side Glenavon, leaving the Lurgan-based club in January 1935. In February 1935 he agreed to join another Irish League side Belfast Celtic on trial but that arrangement came to an end a month later. He returned to Scotland in the 1935 close season and retired from playing.
When his playing days ended Jimmy became a football coach for Scottish junior side Strathclyde. He and his brother also owned the Railway Tavern in the Gorbals area of East Glasgow, a pub he ran for 35 years until his death in Glasgow in May 1971.
In February 1927, while impressing for St Mirren, Howieson won his only international cap for Scotland in a 2-0 Home International victory over Ireland, played at Windsor Park in Belfast.
Details
Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 7 June 1900, Rutherglen
Hull City First Game: 5 March 1927, Grimsby Town H (Division Two), 26 years, 271 days old
Hull City Final Game: 1 May 1930, Bristol City H (Division Two), 29 years, 328 days old
Clubs
Rutherglen Glencairn, Airdrieonians (1921-1924), St Johnstone (1924-1925), St Mirren (1925), Dundee United (1925), St Mirren (1925-1927), Hull City (1927-1928), New Bedford Whalers (1928-1929), New York Giants (1929), Hull City (1929-1930), Shelbourne (1930-1932), Clyde (1932-1934), Alloa Athletic (1934), Glenavon (1934-1935), Belfast Celtic (1935)
Hull City Record
Career: 74 apps, 14 goals
Jimmy Howieson| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926/27 | 12 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1927/28 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1929/30 | 28 | 5 | 6 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |