This is my first post here.
I've been researching the career of Gordon Milne and his father, Jimmy, who was briefly at Morecambe after the war as player-coach. That season, 1947/48, marked Jimmy's last ever game in the FA Cup, at the age of 36. It was a poignant moment for him, as the FA Cup was the source of heartbreak throughout the careers of both Jimmy and Gordon.
While looking into that story, I discovered the existence of another Jimmy - Jimmy 'Mountain' McGraw, and it's that fascinating character that I'd like to introduce here.
That last FA Cup game for Jimmy Milne came in the Second Qualifying round in October 1947, away at Fleetwood. The legendary cartoonist from the Lancashire Evening Post, 'Furnival', was at the game, and his wonderful piece appeared in the paper on the Monday, after Morecambe had lost 2-0:
Here's a close up of the frame with Milne and the Mountain:
I wanted to find out more about McGraw. Though he was usually a centre-half, he was often switched to centre forward, especially if Morecambe were chasing the game, when the cry at Christie Park would be 'Give it to McGraw!'
Here's a report from the Lancaster Guardian, December 30th 1949, after Jimmy Milne had moved on:
This is what he looked like:
It seems that McGraw was transferred in the early 50s to Ingleborough FC, which is appropriate, as the club was named after the mountain at the foot of which their ground was located:
I'll post more about Jimmy Milne below, but if you have any additional information about Mountain McGraw I'd love to hear it.