James Adamson (4 April 1929– 8 November 2011) [1] was an English professional footballer and football manager. He was born in Ashington, Northumberland. [2] He made 486 appearances for Burnley, ranking him sixth in their all-time appearance list. [2] Playing career [ edit ]

In 1962, Adamson had the world at his feet: FA Cup finalist, Footballer of the Year and invited to become England manager, having been assistant at the World Cup in Chile. But Adamson said ‘no’. The players who were around at that time got the benefit of his knowledge and were taught to play the right way. Burnley football club is sad to confirm the passing of a true club legend in Jimmy Adamson," said a statement on www.burnleyfootballclub.com. "Ashington-born Adamson gave three decades of magnificent service to the Clarets." Winterbottom resigned after the tournament and FA bosses turned to Adamson. He didn’t want the job and instead carried on playing at Burnley while Alf Ramsey became England manager.Though 1962 was a landmark year for Adamson, he will be best remembered as the ever-present captain of the Burnley team which won the League Championship in the 1959-60 season. This was a tremendous achievement for a small, unfashionable club that lived on its wits, the generosity of its pork butcher chairman, Bob Lord, and the skill of its scouts and coaches.

Despite finishing on the losing side in the 1962 FA Cup Final, Adamson was named footballer of the year and, at the age of 33, was included in England's World Cup squad for the tournament in Chile that summer. At Leeds, Adamson seemed to lose his touch. Always at his best out on the training field, he was said to become increasingly and untypically remote, and he left, after considerable vocal encouragement from Leeds fans, in 1980. This is a poignant story of broken dreams, failed ambitions and personal tragedy, ending in estrangement from the club he loved. A story of what might have been. Two years later the Clarets were beaten at Wembley by Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup final – but the brilliant Adamson was still honoured as player of the year.Adamson formed a midfield partnership with inside-forward Jimmy McIlroy, around which much of Burnley's creative play was centred. Adamson was the Burnley captain that season and led them all the way to the Holy Grail of the Football League championship.

The team of brilliant young players roared to sixth place in 1974 and also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup – but that day at Hillsborough ended in tears with a defeat at the hands of Newcastle United.In February 1970, when Burnley manager Harry Potts was made general manager, Adamson stepped up to become team manager. Burnley were relegated at the end his first full season in charge, but returned to the top-flight in 1973, winning the Second Division title. [2] On 1 August 2013, his biography, written by Dave Thomas, was published. [4] Honours [ edit ] Burnley

In 1976 Adamson left Burnley and the Clarets slid out of the top flight – and he went on to have short spells in charge of Sunderland, Leeds, who he led into the UEFA Cup, and Sparta Rotterdam. Jimmy Adamson was very much an enigma, a great player of the 50s and early 60s, a title winner, man-of-the-match in the 1962 Cup Final, a revered coach whose name is still remembered in the game, but a manager who was sometimes not the easiest to get on with, and whose spirit was shattered by his dismissal as Burnley manager.

Recruited from youth football in Northumberland, Adamson joined Burnley's groundstaff before signing a first professional contract with the Clarets in 1947, aged 17. However, he did not make his senior debut until 1951. It is a story of the changing relationships between three men: Harry Potts, Bob Lord and Adamson himself, the three of them once the inseparable and on-going heart of the club, but who eventually could not speak to each other. After retiring, Adamson stayed on with Burnley as a successful coach under Harry Potts as manager. He polished and promoted raw talent, much of which had been scouted by the club in his native north-east. "We don't get the first-class players," Adamson would say, "we get the second-class players," but the quality of Burnley's coaching ensured that many of them became stars. An elegant right-half of distinction, Adamson was the heartbeat of Burnley teams through the 50s – and in 1959/60 he was an ever present in the greatest side in the club’s history.