Jimmy Speirs James Hamilton Speirs ( 22 March 1886 – 20 August 1917 ) , commonly known as Jimmy Speirs , was a Scottish footballer who represented his country on one occasion , scored the winning goal in the 1911 FA Cup Final , and received the Military Medal during the First World War . Born in Glasgow , he was one of six children , and worked as a clerk while playing youth football for Annandale . He started his adult football career with local junior team Maryhill , where he played for less than a season , before he moved to Rangers in 1905 . He spent three years with the club , but won only the Glasgow Merchants ' Charity Cup , before he joined a third Glasgow side Clyde . After one season , he left Clyde and Scotland , and joined Bradford City for their second season in the First Division . His greatest success came in his second season with Bradford , when he was the club ' s captain and goalscorer in their FA Cup Final victory of 1911 , in a team featuring eight Scottish - born players . He spent another two seasons with Bradford City , before he joined Leeds City , but after two seasons , the First World War broke out . League football continued for one more season , at the end of which Speirs returned to Glasgow . Married with two young children , Speirs would have been exempt from conscription but he volunteered to join the Queen ' s Own Cameron Highlanders in 1915 . He was promoted to Lance Corporal , Corporal and Sergeant , and won the Military Medal for bravery in the field , but was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele in August 1917 , at the age of 31 . Early life . Jimmy Speirs was born on 22 March 1886 in the Govan area of Glasgow , Scotland , to James Hamilton Speirs senior and Janet Shields Speirs ( née McLean ) . He was the fifth of six children , following the births of siblings Maggie , Archibald , Annie and John . The youngest of the family was Robert , born in 1888 . By 1901 , the family had moved to nearby Govanhill , and Jimmy worked as a clerk . It was in Govanhill that Speirs ' football ability was first shown , when he played in the junior football circuit on the black ash pitches of Glasgow , for Annandale , during summer tournaments . Football career . Scotland . An inside forward , Speirs moved to Maryhill in the Glasgow Junior League in 1905 . Maryhill , whose Lochburn Park ground was five miles north of Speirs ' home , were among the top sides in the junior leagues , and lifted 13 trophies in eight seasons at the turn of the 20th century . The 1904 – 05 team contained six junior internationals , and the side won three titles that season . Speirs ' first recorded scoring appearance was on 29 April 1905 , when his two goals helped Maryhill beat Parkhead 2 – 0 . Speirs scored again in a 3 – 3 draw against Ashfield in the Glasgow Junior Cup final , and scored the only goal of the replay to help Maryhill win the competition . Maryhill also won the Glasgow Merchants ' Charity Cup and the league title although it is unknown if Speirs played in the cup final or picked up a league winners medal . At the end of the season , Speirs and junior international John McFie both moved across Glasgow to First Division side Rangers , who had finished second to city rivals Celtic after losing out in a title play - off . Speirs did not make his full debut until 25 September 1905 , when Rangers lost 5 – 0 to Heart of Midlothian at Ibrox . Speirs scored his first Rangers goal two weeks later during the next league game in a 4 – 1 win away to Port Glasgow . In his first season , Speirs scored a hat - trick in a 7 – 1 Scottish Cup first round victory over Second Division Arthurlie , and won the Glasgow Merchants ' Charity Cup , during which he scored twice in both the semi - final and final . However , Rangers could only finish fourth in the league , with Celtic retaining the title . Rangers improved to third place the following season as Speirs finished joint top scorer with 13 goals , but Celtic again were league winners . Celtic also defeated Rangers 3 – 0 in the Scottish Cup in front of 60 , 000 fans . Rangers ' only trophy that season was the successful defence of the Merchants ' Charity Cup , but Speirs did not play . In 1907 – 08 , Celtic once again finished top , with Rangers in third , and knocked their rivals out of the Scottish Cup . The two teams also met in the final of the Glasgow Cup , with Celtic winning in the second replay . Speirs was limited to 13 games , none of which Rangers lost , and he left after playing 62 matches , from which he scored 29 goals . During his final days with Rangers , he also won his only cap for Scotland , in a 2 – 1 win over Wales on 7 March 1908 . Speirs won a representative cap 11 days later , when he played and scored for Glasgow during an inter - city fixture with Sheffield . The game finished 2 – 2 . In the summer of 1908 , after three years with Rangers , Speirs moved to another Glasgow - based club , Clyde , which also played in the First Division . Clyde ' s Shawfield Park ground was three miles from Speirs ' home in Govanhill , in the Rutherglen area of the city , where Speirs ' grandparents and father lived . Clyde had finished 17th in 1907 – 08 , one point ahead of bottom side Port Glasgow . Speirs played only 14 league games for Clyde but helped them to their highest league position of third , three points behind winners Celtic . Clyde also lost to Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi - final , following a replay . It was Speirs ' only season with Clyde , during which he scored a total of 10 goals from 20 appearances . Bradford City . Speirs left his native Scotland during the summer of 1909 , to head for Yorkshire and sign for Bradford City , under the management of his countryman Peter O ' Rourke . It would be City ' s second season in the First Division following their promotion in 1907 – 08 , and O ' Rourke wanted to strengthen his side after they narrowly avoided relegation in their first season in the top flight . He assembled a team which contained several Scottish players , and also brought in England international outside right Dicky Bond . Speirs made his debut on the opening day of the 1909 – 10 season , as City lost 1 – 0 to Manchester United . His first goal came three months later , in a 3 – 1 victory over Sunderland , during the middle of a ten - game undefeated spell . Speirs played in all 38 games during his first season , scoring six times , as City finished seventh . He also played in both the club ' s FA Cup games that season , scoring in a 4 – 2 victory over Notts County in the first round . It was the following season when Speirs wrote his name in the club ' s record books , with his performance in the same competition . He played 25 league games , scoring seven goals , to help City to fifth place , a position which the club has not yet bettered . The club also reached the FA Cup Final in the same season , with Speirs playing in all but one of the games along the way , scoring in a 2 – 1 second round victory over Norwich City . Speirs , along with Frank Thompson and George Robinson , was censured by the Football Association following a scramble for the match ball at the end of the semi - final victory against Blackburn Rovers . Speirs was captain of the side and in the days up to the final he wrote to his opposite number , Colin Veitch . The contents of his letter are not known , but in his reply , Veitch said Speirs had " expressed in sound terms the true spirit of comradeship , and the proper sentiments one would expect to see associated with the sportsman , and the sport " . Speirs led out a team which contained eight Scots for the final at the Crystal Palace on 22 April 1911 against Newcastle United . The game ended in a 0 – 0 draw , in what was described as a " decidedly dull and uneventful game " . The final replay was played four days later at Old Trafford , Manchester , with City making one change to the team , bringing in Bob Torrance for fellow Scottish defender Willie Gildea . After 15 minutes , Speirs scored what turned out to be the only goal of the game to win the cup . Robinson shot at goal , but the wind caught the ball , which was headed on by Frank Thompson . Speirs himself headed the ball at goal , and Newcastle ' s goalkeeper Jimmy Lawrence was distracted by City striker Frank O ' Rourke and the ball rolled into the net . Speirs lifted the newly - cast trophy , which had been made by Bradford jewellers Fattorinis , and displayed it on the club ' s victory parade later that evening in Bradford . The following day , Speirs was pictured on the front page of the " Daily Mirror " newspaper , holding the cup . The club ' s attempt to defend the victory came to an end after six consecutive clean sheets , when they were defeated 3 – 2 by Barnsley with Speirs scoring one of the goals . However , he was limited to ten league games , not playing from September until March , and finished the season with seven goals . They included his second senior hat - trick during a 5 – 1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on 30 March 1912 . Speirs started the following season , but after playing 13 of the first 15 games , he left . He had played 96 games in total , scoring 33 goals . Leeds City . Speirs joined neighbours Leeds City , which played in the Second Division , for a fee of £1 , 400 in December 1912 , becoming one of Herbert Chapman ' s first signings . Speirs ' debut came on 28 December in a 3 – 2 defeat to Fulham , and although his first goal did not come until his fifth game against Bradford ( Park Avenue ) , Speirs finished second highest scorer with 10 goals , behind Billy McLeod . Their goals helped Leeds finish in sixth position , 10 points off the promotion places . The following season , Leeds came closer to promotion , but despite Speirs , as captain , scoring 12 goals and McLeod netting 27 , they came fourth , two points behind Park Avenue in the second promotion spot . Despite the outbreak of the First World War in June 1914 , league football continued , but Leeds lost their first four games of the season and were unable to recover , finishing a lowly 15th . Speirs scored the only goal of the West Riding Cup final against Hull City on 11 November 1914 to give what was Leeds City ' s only ever trophy before the club was expelled from the league in 1919 and subsequently dissolved . League football was suspended at the end of the season , and the last game of Speirs ' career was a 2 – 0 defeat to Barnsley on 24 April 1915 . He played 73 league games for Leeds , scoring 32 goals . In total , Speirs had played 226 league games , a further 30 Scottish and English FA Cup games , and several other appearances in other cup competitions . During his career , he scored 92 league goals , and 12 senior cup goals . First World War . At the end of the 1914 – 15 season , Speirs returned to his native Glasgow and enlisted in the Queen ' s Own Cameron Highlanders on 17 May 1915 . Conscription was a year away , from which Speirs would have been exempt because he was married with two young children . Private S / 18170 Speirs was posted to the regiment ' s headquarters in Inverness where he joined the 3rd Battalion , a reserve battalion , for training . He was appointed to the position of Lance Corporal while on training , and after the British troops suffered heavy casualties , Speirs was posted overseas on 29 May 1916 . The following month , he was promoted to the position of Corporal . Later the same year , he wounded his elbow , from either a gunshot or shrapnel injury . In April 1917 , Speirs took part in the Second Battle of Arras , for which he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in May 1917 , before he was promoted to Sergeant in June . The following month , he returned home to Scotland on leave , but he soon returned to France and was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele on or about 20 August 1917 , aged 31 . He is buried at Dochy Farm New British Cemetery , near Ypres in Belgium . Personal life and legacy . Speirs married Elizabeth Lennox Maben , known as Bessie , on 24 October 1906 in Maben ' s father ' s home in Glasgow . On 11 December 1907 , the couple ' s first child , James Hamilton Speirs , was born . Speirs , who had still been recorded as a clerk at the time of the wedding , was now listed as a spirit dealer ' s stocktaker . Their second child , Elizabeth Maben Speirs , known as Betty , was born on 6 August 1912 . Speirs was also a freemason . He was initiated into The Lodge Saint Vincent Sandyford No 553 , based in Glasgow , on 11 March 1908 , just four days after he had made his only Scottish appearance . When his football career took him away from Glasgow , Speirs maintained links with the lodge . He became a Master Mason , then a life member on 12 February 1913 . Following Speirs ' death , Bessie remarried during the 1920s and moved to the south of England with Betty and her new husband . His son remained in Scotland but later emigrated to Canada . In 2003 , his family auction ed Speirs ' 1911 FA Cup winning medal with his Military Medal and service medal . The FA Cup medal was sold for £26 , 210 , a record for a cup medal . His daughter ' s family ' s descendants now live in Kent . Bradford City fan Mark Lawn bought Speirs ' FA Cup winning medal . Lawn later became chairman of the football club and allowed the medal to be shown , alongside that of Frank Thompson , in the club ' s museum . Speirs ' medals formed part of an exhibition to celebrate Bradford City ' s centenary in 2003 at Bradford Industrial Museum and have also been on show at Imperial War Museum North , in Greater Manchester , as part of an exhibition linking sport and war . Playing honours . Annandale Rangers Bradford City Leeds City