Jimmy Maxwell

Jimmy Maxwell was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, on 15th January, 1913. He played for Kilmarnock in the Scottish League before being transferred to Preston North End for £4,000 in the summer of 1934.

In the 1934-35 season Preston finished 11th in the league. Maxwell, who played at centre-forward, was the club's leading scorer with 26 league and cup goals. The following season they persuaded the Scottish international, Tom Smith, to join the club. This strong centre-half brought stability to the defence. Other signings that year included the brothers, Hugh O'Donnell and Francis O'Donnell, from Celtic.

In the 1935-36 season, Preston finished 7th in the league. Maxwell was once again top scorer with 19 goals in all competitions. Dean Hayes (Who's Who of Preston North End) described Maxwell as "fast, nippy and packing a terrific shot with his left foot."

Preston had a disappointing league campaign in 1936-37 only finishing in 14th place. Maxwell had a disappointing season with Francis O'Donnell replacing him as top scorer.

At the beginning of the next season, Preston made two important signings. In September, 1937, Preston purchased the high scoring George Mutch, from Manchester United for £5,000. The following month, Robert Beattie a skillful inside forward, arrived from Kilmarnock for a fee of £2,500. They joined fellow Scotsmen, Jimmy Maxwell, Jimmy Dougal, Andrew Beattie, Tom Smith, Hugh O'Donnell, Francis O'Donnell, Andrew McLaren and Bill Shankly at the club.

With the signing of George Mutch, Maxwell did not many games in the 1937-38 season. The Scottish dominated Preston side finished 3rd in the First Division of the Football League with 49 points. Only Arsenal (52) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (51) obtained more points.

Preston North End also had a successful run in the 1937-38 FA Cup. Preston beat West Ham United in the 3rd round with George Mutch scored a hat trick. Mutch also scored goals in the 4th round against Leicester City and in the semi-final when Preston beat Aston Villa 2-1. Jimmy Dougal was injured in this game and Maxwell replaced him for the final.

In the 1938 FA Cup Final Preston played Huddersfield Town. This was the first time that a whole match was shown live on television. Even so, far more people watched the game in the stadium as only around 10,000 people at the time owned television sets. No goals were scored during the first 90 minutes and so extra-time was played. In the last minute of extra-time, Bill Shankly put George Mutch through on goal. Alf Young, Huddersfield's centre-half, brought him down from behind and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Mutch was injured in the tackle but after receiving treatment he got up and scored via the crossbar. It was the only goal in the game.

Maxwell joined Barnsley just before the outbreak of the Second World War. He also played for Kilmarnock and Shrewsbury Town before retiring from the game.

Jimmy Maxwell died in 1990.