Biography
Veteran goalkeeper Jimmy Whitehouse spent the 1904/05 season at Hull City and played twice against Stockton in the FA Cup, the club’s first two senior fixtures. He also started 38 of the Tigers’ friendly games in their inaugural season, prior to joining the Football League in 1905 – but Whitehouse left the Tigers before that elevation.
James Whitehouse was born in the western fringes of Birmingham, close to the Birmingham Canal, and worked in the brass tube industry as a young man. As a teenager he played for Birmingham St George’s who competed in the Football Alliance, a short-lived division of 12 clubs set up in 1889 to rival the newly formed Football League. In 1892 the Alliance was disbanded and several clubs formed the new Football League Division Two. St George’s were disbanded so Whitehosue joined rivals Grimsby Town, where he mnde his Football League debut in September 1892. Jimmy spent four years at Grimsby and made 162 senior starts for the Mariners. In the 1896 close season he joined First Division Aston Villa who promptly had the best season in their history – Whitehouse played in the FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace against Everton, which the Villains won 3-2, while elsewhere on the same day results amongst thir rivals meant Villa were also crowned League champions, becoming the second club to claim the English League and Cup double. Whitehouse started 24 games in the 1896/97 season and added a further 19 starts in 1897/98 season before leaving Villa Park and spending the 1898/99 season at Southern League First Division side Bedminster, which later became Bristol City, who had just been crowned the champions of the Western League.
In 1899 he returned to the Football League and spent a further season at Grimsby Town, making 31 senior appearances. In September 1900 he joined Newton Heath, another former Football Alliance side now competed in the Second Division who two years later, after a financial crisis, were rebranded as Manchester United. Whitehouse spent three seasons at the Manchester club and was a regular starter for the first two seasons – once playing as emergency inside left during the 1900/01 season – but made only 8 starts in 1902/03 season, taking his club tally to 64 starts. Whitehouse moved to Mancunian rivals Manchester City in February 1903, but didn’t make any first team appearances ina short spell with the Sky Blues. He spent the 1903/04 season at Scottish side Third Lanark, who won the Scottish League championship, prior to joining the Tigers in the 1904 close season.
Whitehouse signed for Southend United in 1905 and spent the last two seasons of his playing career on the Thames Estuary. In 1909 he returned to Hull alongside William Benton the football comedian, appearing at Hull Hippodrome as a “football turn” and taking the role of goalkeeper in an on-stage goalscoring competition. He later returned to the Birmingham area, living in the northern suburb of Kingstanding and working for the Birmingham Corporation. He died in January 1934 in what is now Sandwell Hospital after having a stomach operation six months earlier. In February 1935 his son, also called James, lost his life when Grimsby-based trawler Langanes was sunk in heavy seas off Iceland.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 14 April 1873, Birmingham
Hull City First Game: 17 September 1904, Stockton A (FA Cup Preliminary Round), 31 years, 156 days old
Hull City Final Game: 22 September 1904, Stockton A (FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay), 31 years, 161 days old
Clubs
Birmingham St George’s (1890-1892), Grimsby Town (1892-1896), Aston Villa (1896-1898), Bedminster (1898-1899), Grimsby Town (1899-1900), Newton Heath/Manchester United (1900-1903), Third Lanark (1903-1904), Hull City (1904-1905), Southend United (1905-1907)
Hull City Record
Career: 2 apps, 0 goals
Jimmy Whitehouse| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904/05 | - | - | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |