Jim Herriot is fondly remembered at Blues as being a slightly eccentric Scottish goalkeeper that gave his name to the book and………. more details ⬇️

Players in the mist (of time)

Jim was born in 1939 in Lanarkshire Scotland and after playing amateur football locally signed for Dunfermline at the age of nineteen. Jim became the Pars regular keeper after regular first choice keeper Eddie Connachan left for Middlesbrough in 1963. Jim appeared in the 1965 Scottish Cup Final but was on the losing side to Celtic 3-2.

Jim was notorious for using the American Football method of putting boot polish under his eyes to stop the reflection of the sun, I’ve also seen him do this with mud off the pitch. It made him cut a strange figure in goal at times. He is also probably best name for Vet and Author Alf Wright choosing the name James Herriot for his Alta Ego Vet in the book and TV series after seeing Herriot in a televised Blues game against Manchester United.

Herriot was Blues first choice keeper for five years after moving to St Andrews following a £18000 move from Dunfermline in 1965 and was the first keeper I had the pleasure of seeing at St Andrews.

During his time at St Andrews Jim was chosen to represent Scotland making his Debut in 1968 in a one nil loss to Denmark. He went on to represent Scotland on eight occasions including a five one defeat to England before making his final international appearance in 1969 in a three two loss to West Germany in a World Cup qualifier.

Jim was a pretty good keeper who excelled as a shot stopper but wasn’t the best at collecting crosses. He will always be remembered by me for being the keeper in the great side of 68/69 that featured my boyhood heroes.

Jim made 181 appearances for Blues before moving to Villa on loan but he never made any appearances for them.

Jim then moved back north of the border to Hibernian where he made 57 appearances and won his only domestic medal winning the Scottish League Cup in 1972/73 under manager Eddie Turnbull when they beat Celtic 2-1.

Jim finished his career where he started it at Dunfermline in 1977 aged 38.

Jim is now 86 and living in Lanarkshire Scotland.