Jimmy Bone
Personal information
Full name	James Bone
Date of birth	22 September 1949 (1949-09-22) (age 60)
Place of birth	Bridge of Allan, Scotland
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Fallin Boys Brigade Airth Castle Rovers
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1968-1972 1972-1973 1973-1974 1974-1975 1975-1978 1978-1981 1979-1980 1981-1983 1983-1985 1985-1986	Partick Thistle Norwich City Sheffield United Celtic Arbroath St Mirren Toronto Blizzard (loan) Hong Kong Rangers Hearts Arbroath	107 (50) 039 0(9) 031 0(9) 007 0(1) 097 (41) 131 (27) 50 (7) 056 (11) 030 (2)
National team
1972	Scotland	002 0(1)
Teams managed
1985-1986 1988 1988-1991 1992-1996 1996-1997 2001-2002 2007	Arbroath Airdrie Power Dynamos St Mirren East Fife Stenhousemuir Partick Thistle
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

James "Jimmy" Bone (born 22 September 1949) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Following his playing retirement he moved into coaching and has managed a number of Scottish League clubs.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Early career

Despite attending the rugby union-playing Stirling High School,^[1] Bone developed a keen interest in football, through representative games with his local boys brigade. He began his professional career with Partick Thistle, whom he joined from junior side Airth Castle Rovers in 1968 and spent four seasons with the Jags. During this time they suffered their first ever relegation from the First Division, finishing bottom of the table in 1969-70.^[2] However, the next season Bone was an integral part of the side that won the Second Division title and instant promotion back to the top flight. He earned another, unexpected, medal in 1971-72 when Partick won the Scottish League Cup by beating the overwhelming favourites Celtic.^[1] Celtic were the reigning League champions and had been European Cup finalists only two years earlier but Bone's 37th minute goal helped Partick to a 4-0 halftime lead, the Jags eventually winning 4-1.

[edit] Move to England

Bone moved south of the border in February 1972, joining Norwich City in a £30,000 deal.^[1] Noted for his very fast runs down the wing, he helped Norwich secure the second division championship at the end of the 1971-72 season and scored the club's first ever goal in division one at the start of the following campaign. He joined Sheffield United for £30,000 in March 1973.

[edit] Return to Scotland

Bone made further moves to Celtic (£25,000) and Arbroath (£12,000) in 1974 and 1975 respectively.^[3]. He stayed with the Red Lichties for three seasons but his consistent scoring was not enough to gain them promotion to the new Premier Division, following the league reconstruction of 1975-76.

In January 1978 Bone became one of Alex Ferguson's last signings as St Mirren manager, moving to the Paisley club for £25,000.^[1] He was appointed captain by Ferguson's successor, Jim Clunie, and helped the side to victory in the Anglo-Scottish Cup and qualification for the UEFA Cup in the 1979-80 season. He moved to Hong Kong Rangers in 1981 and returned to Britain with Hearts in August 1983.

Bone was one of several veterans in the Hearts team and as a result the side was caustically dubbed Dad's Army.^[4] However, the recently-promoted side performed above expectations, finishing fifth in the League and qualifying for European competition. Bone scored several important goals, including the winner as Hearts defeated derby rivals Hibernian at Tynecastle for the first time in ten years.^[3] The following year he notched the side's 6,000th League goal.^[1] He left to take up the role of player-manager at Arbroath in February 1985.

[edit] Managerial career

Bone stayed with Arbroath for almost two years before moving to another former club St Mirren, as Alex Smith's assistant manager in December 1986. The side won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 28 years that season, while maintaining a safe position in the Premier Division. He left the Paisley side in April 1988 following a public dispute with striker Frank McGarvey. After a brief stint coaching with Dundee United he returned to management with First Division Airdrie, where he stayed until 1991. He spent a year in charge of Zambian side Power Dynamos FC before returning to St Mirren as manager. In four seasons he was unable to gain promotion with the Saints and eventually resigned in 1996. He spent one season as East Fife's manager before becoming assistant to Jocky Scott at Dundee.

Bone was appointed Stenhousemuir's manager in 2001 but again his tenure lasted only one season.^[5] He served as Alex Smith's assistant at Ross County between 2002 and 2004, before Dick Campbell made him his assistant at Partick Thistle in 2005. When Campbell was sacked in March 2007, Bone assumed the role of caretaker manager for the last two months of the season.^[6] He left Partick after their appointment of Ian McCall as manager on 25 May 2007. Bone was ridiculed for trying to bring Karim Benzema to the Firhill club. John Lambie was especially discontent with his moves, reportedly stating that he thought Stephane Bonnes was a much better option. The following December he moved south of the border to assist fellow Scotsman Bobby Williamson at Chester City but left the position just two months later after a poor run of form ^[7].

[edit] Personal life

Bone is a keen fan of the heavy metal band, Anthrax.

Bone found cult fame via his erratic goalscoring celebration. After scoring, Bone would collapse on all fours and slowly crawl back to the centre circle as if to say "hey, give the dog a bone".

He now coaches young pupils at Craigie High School in order to bring up new Scottish talent. It is organised by the S.F.A. and is looking to be very successful.^{[weasel words]}

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

• Lamming, Douglas (1987) (Hardback). A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who’s Who, 1872-1986. Hutton Press. (ISBN 0-907033-47-4). 
• Davage, Mark; Eastwood, John; Platt, Kevin (2001). Canary Citizens. Jarrold Publishing. ISBN 0-7117-2020-7. 
• Hogan, Andrew (1995) (Hardback). Hearts in Art. Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-736-5. 

[edit] External links

• Jimmy Bone's incomplete management career stats at Soccerbase
• Scotland appearances at londonhearts.com
• Hearts appearances at londonhearts.com