jimmy seed - fact file

1919 - 1927        forward

FULL NAME :  JAMES MARSHALL SEED
 

Born on 25th March 1893 in Blackhill, Consett, County Durham, England.

Height : - .m  (' ")

Weight : -  - kgs    (st lbs)

 
An influential inside forward of his day, Jimmy Seed proved his worth to the Tottenham side when they sold him to Sheffield Wednesday during the 1927-28 season.

Although born in the North-East, Jimmy Seed came to Spurs and worked his way into the first team, becoming a vital part of the team and culminating in the FA Cup win of 1921 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, with the striker scoring five goals on the way to the final. 

Working in pit in a local colliery, Seed played for local side Whitburn, where he was spotted by Sunderland, who signed him up.  Unfortunately, World War I interrupted his career and having been gassed in France during his Army service, the Roker Park club released him at the age of 24, as they thought he would not have the lung capacity to be the same player at the top level.  Moving to play for Mid-Rhondda in Wales, Spurs manager Peter McWilliam saw him playing in a FA Cup qualifying round tie against Ton Pentre, when he had gone to watch Darkie Lowdell of the opposition.  He returned to the club to sign Seed for just £250.

Jimmy was a fine passer of the ball and set up lot so goals for colleagues, as his quick passing often opened up defences.  Jimmy used his astute tactical understanding of the game to his advantage by moving the ball around the field and this pulled players from the other side out of position, thus making more space for his team-mates to operate in.   He had a particularly good partnership with Fanny Walden, who he would pick out with accurate long range passes.  Jimmy was a key player in the club's FA Cup triumph in 1921 (scoring a hat trick against Bradford City in the Second Round) and helped the team settle as a good League side during his time at the club.

At the end of the 1926, Seed got an ankle injury that kept him out for a couple of months and let in Taffy O'Callaghan as his replacement.  Finding that his friend and manager McWilliam leaving to go to Middlesbrough, Jimmy was relegated to the reserves under new trainer Billy Minter, with a pay cut of £1 a week to add insult to his injury.  Disillusioned, he looked around at manager's jobs and went for one at Leeds, but was unsuccessful and then Aldershot were keen on him, but they could not afford the fee to sign him from Spurs.

Spurs made the biggest mistake of this era, when Seed was sold to Sheffield Wednesday, who had been interested in him for a year, while ironically, Darkie Lowdell made the move the other way, finally joining Spurs, being the player watched when McWilliam signed Seed.  At the time, it looked as though the Owls would be relegated as they had only 25 points from 34 matches, with Spurs sitting in 10th with 35 points from 36 matches.  However, Wednesday beat Tottenham 3-1 at White Hart Lane and went on a good run that was inspired by Seed's performances (including goals in each of the victories over Spurs that season) and Spurs went into decline.  The season ended with Tottenham relegated and Sheffield Wednesday staying up.  Things looked up for Wednesday and Seed captained the Yorkshire side to the league title in 1928-29 and 1929-30.

After he retired from playing, Jimmy went into management with Clapton Orient in 1931 and then in 1933, with Charlton Athletic, where he had great success.  The Addicks took three years to move up two divisions with promotions to the Second, then First Division, where they finished runners-up to Manchester City in their first campaign.  During the war Years, Seed lead the club to two War Cup Finals; one lost in 1943 and one won in 1944 beating Chelsea 3-1.  Seed lead the team out at Wembley in the first two FA Cup Finals after the war, losing 1-4 to Derby County in 1946 and then taking the 1947 trophy, winning 1-0 against Burnley.

Seed's management of the team in the league floundered after the war, despite huge gate receipts from crowds at the Valley, a very big ground, but little of the revenue was made available to him for new players, including Stanley Matthews, who he spotted, but could not buy.  Subsequently, the team bounced around the low reaches of the table apart from 1952-53, when they finished fifth.  When his side lost the first five games of the 1956-57 season, he was sacked.

In 1957 he was hired as an advisor to Bristol City and then took over as manager of Millwall for 18 months, before becoming a director at the club until his death.

Jimmy Seed died on 16th July 1966.

 

NICKNAME :  

Career Record
 
Club Signed Fee Debut Apps Goals
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR ?? £250 ??  ?? ??
Sheffield Wednesday ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
- ?? ?? ??  ?? ??
- ?? ?? ??  ?? ??

Career Record
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
- League appearances; goals
- FA Cup appearances; goals
- League Cup appearances; goals
European appearances; goals
Sheffield Wednesday
- League appearances; goals
- FA Cup appearances; goals
- League Cup appearances; goals
European appearances; goals

Honours
England international
5 full caps;  1 goal
FA Cup winners medal 1920-21 (THFC)
Charity Shield winners medal 1920-1921  (THFC)
First Division Championship winners medal 1928-29, 1929-30 (Sheffield Wednesday)

Milestones
- appearance

  

 

Jimmy Seed's brother Angus was manager at Barnsley and was the man who brought Danny Blanchflower over from Ireland to sign him for the Tykes.
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What they said about Jimmy Seed
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What Jimmy Seed said about ...
the end of his Tottenham career ...  .. ()

"I travelled as 12th man to Liverpool and after Watching (Taffy) O'Callaghan give a skilled demonstration against Everton, I decided that I had little suture at Tottenham,  I wanted to get out as a player before I boarded the soccer toboggan."

on manager Peter McWilliam leaving THFC ...  .. ()

"I knew that Tottenham would never be the same for me again without he man who had been my friend as well as manager."

? ...  .. ()

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             Appearances

Season League FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup
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