Jimmy was a product of City’s outstanding youth team of 1970 and looked destined for the top at an early age. In 1971, before he had made his City debut he became Ireland’s youngest ever international, aged 17 ½. His big breakthrough at Coventry was in 1973-74 when he displaced Chris Cattlin as the left-back and was a virtual ever-present. The only blot on his copybook was a red card for retaliating against Mike Summerbee in a League Cup game. The following season he switched to a defensive midfield role to great effect before becoming a central defender in 1975-76. In early 1977 he joined Tottenham for £120,000 and was a regular for Spurs up until he suffered a serious leg break in Sofia on international duty. Complications set in and his top class career ended. He made a comeback with Vancouver Whitecaps in the NASL and played a few games for Leicester, Torquay, Brentford and Peterborough before moving into local non-league football. Jimmy has been in the police force for around 20 years and in 2007 was commended for his bravery. In total he won 30 caps for his country, 17 of them whilst at Coventry.
Penalties (1 - scored)
1974-75
21 September 1974 v Everton H, Division One, scored (keeper Dai Davies)
Sent off (1)
1973-74
19 December 1973 v Manchester City H, League Cup 5th Round, violent conduct, striking Francis Lee
