Name: James Valentine Joseph Nolan *Born: 22 October 1880, Dublin
Died: April 1950, Dublin
Position: Goalkeeper
(* Between his second and third caps his name was changed by deed-pole to Nolan-Whelan)
Representative Honours: Ireland: 5 Full Caps (1901-1902).
Club Honours: (with Freebooters) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1900/01.
Club Career:
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Teams
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Seasons
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Signed
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Fee
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League
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FA.Cup
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Others
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Dublin.Freebooters
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97/98-03/04
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-
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Amateur
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-
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Oxford
University
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02/03
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-1902
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Amateur
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Corinthians
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Amateur
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TOTALS
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£-
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Biography:
One of the youngest goalkeepers ever to take the field for Ireland, Jim Nolan-Whelan was just 20 years and 138 days old when he made his international debut. In all Nolan-Whelan was capped on five occasions, tasting victory just once. His final cap was won against Scotland, in a benefit match held to raise funds for the Ibrox Disaster Fund. This hastily arranged match followed the collapse of a stand at Rangers’ stadium during an international match between Scotland and England that claimed the lives of 25 fans.
Nolan-Whelan played for the amateur gentlemen’s Dublin Freebooters club, and was between the posts on the historic day on which they played in the Irish Cup Final where they lost 1-0 to Cliftonville in 1901. He was the regular goalkeeper for the Freebooters and was the most-capped of their four players who represented Ireland.
While attending Christ Church College at Oxford University in 1902/03 Nolan-Whelan played in the 30th Varsity match against Cambridge, a match that finished with a 1-0 win. Although Oxford University had an amazing FA Cup record of one win, another three final appearances and two further appearances in the semi-finals, by the time of Nolan-Whelan’s attendance they no longer competed with the professional clubs in English football’s primary competition.
A Dubliner by birth, Nolan-Whelan returned from Oxford a qualified Barrister in Law and spent the rest of his life in his home city.
Ireland Cap Details:
09-03-1901 England. A L 0-3 BC
23-03-1901 Wales... H L 0-1 BC
22-02-1902 Wales... A W 3-0 BC
01-03-1902 Scotland H L 1-3 BC
09-08-1902 Scotland H L 0-3 FR
Summary: 5/0. Won 1, Drew 0, Lost 4.
Photo and details by George Glass.
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