'James William Barrett' (
19 January 1907 —
November 25 1970) was an
English footballer who played for
West Ham United.
Born in
Stratford, London, Barrett began playing football at the city's
Park School, after moving from Abbey School because it lacked a team. He played at Park with Billy "Bubbles" Murray, who is linked with the history of West Ham's anthem "
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles".
He played his first game at
Upton Park for West Ham Boys against Liverpool in the English Shield Final of 1920-21.
He signed professional forms with the
East London club in 1923 at the age of 16, but didn't play his first senior game until
March 28 1925, against
Spurs at
White Hart Lane. He was an ever-present during the
1925-26 and
1926-27 seasons, and was also the club's top appearance maker for the
1930-31 and
1932-33 seasons. He went on to make a total of 467 appearances for West Ham, scoring 53 goals.
Barrett's only international appearance came against
Northern Ireland in 1928, where he lasted four minutes before succumbing to injury.
Big Jim's son,
James Guy Barrett, also played for West Ham, and he had the opportunity of playing with Jim Jr. while in charge of the A team in 1945-46.
See also
★
One-club man
References
★
Who's Who of West Ham United, , Tony, Hogg, Profile Sports Media, 2005, ISBN 1 903135 50 8
★
''West Ham Player List'', last accessed
26 June 2007
★