Jimmy Goodfellow

James Goodfellow (16 September 1943 – 22 April 2020) was an English professional footballer and manager. A midfielder, he scored 39 goals in 535 league and cup appearances in a 13-year career in the English Football League.

He spent his youth with Newcastle United but did not earn a professional contract. Instead, he played amateur and semi-professional football with Consett, Crook Town, and Bishop Auckland; he won the FA Amateur Cup with Crook Town in 1964. He entered the Football League with Port Vale in 1966, before transferring to Workington in May 1969. He moved on to Rotherham United in January 1974 for a £3,000 fee. He helped the "Millers" to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1974–75. He ended his playing career after spending the 1978–79 season with Stockport County. He then took up coaching with Newport County, Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle, and Sunderland. He served as Cardiff's manager for six months in 1984 and later worked behind the scenes at the club until his retirement in May 2008.

Playing career

Early career Goodfellow signed for Newcastle United, despite being a Sunderland fan, but was released by the club at the age of 17 without making a first-team appearance. In 1964, he scored Crook Town's first goal at Wembley when he scored against Enfield in the Amateur Cup final victory;

Port Vale Goodfellow got the call to move into league football at the age of 23 when he was signed to Jackie Mudie's Port Vale. He scored his first goal in the Fourth Division on 1 October 1966, in a 2–2 draw with Barrow at Holker Street. before rising to tenth place in 1970–71. New boss George Aitken then led the club to sixth and 13th-place finishes in the 1971–72 and 1972–73 campaigns. Goodfellow scored 15 goals in 199 Fourth Division appearances in his time at Borough Park.

Rotherham United Goodfellow signed for Rotherham United in January 1974 after being recommended to manager Jimmy McGuigan by Hartlepool United manager Len Ashurst, who was unable to pay the £3,000 fee Workington demanded. Rotherham missed out on promotion due to a slightly inferior goal difference to Crystal Palace in 1976–77. Rotherham then dropped to just one position and three points above the relegation zone in the 1977–78 campaign. Though Goodfellow missed just three games at Millmoor, he was released in the summer.

Style of play A highly consistent player, his one weakness was his lack of goals. Goodfellow self-deprecatingly described himself as "a non-running, non-tackling, non-heading midfielder". However, he was sacked in November 1981. Ashurst himself was sacked three months later, and after being appointed as manager of Cardiff City in March 1982 he again installed Goodfellow as his assistant. Goodfellow helped Ashurst lead Cardiff to promotion into the Second Division in 1982–83. Ashurst would leave in March 1984 to take over at Sunderland, his hometown club. Goodfellow was appointed joint-caretaker manager of Cardiff, alongside senior player Jimmy Mullen. At the end of the season he was named as the club's permanent manager, with Mullen as his assistant. After his dismissal he joined Plymouth Argyle as physiotherapist, before joining up with Lawrie McMenemy again for an ill-fated spell at Sunderland.

Two years after leaving Ninian Park, he was asked to return to Cardiff as the club's physiotherapist and coach by then manager Frank Burrows. He remained in the backroom staff when manager Eddie May led Cardiff to the Third Division title in the 1992–93 season. Goodfellow would go on to serve the "Bluebirds" with distinction under a series of managers, and in 1998 he was given a testimonial match by the club against Manchester United, with Goodfellow himself being brought on in the final few minutes, at the age of 55. He retired in May 2008 and died on 22 April 2020 in Newport, aged 76.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours Crook Town FA Amateur Cup: 1964

Rotherham United Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion: 1974–75