James "Jimmy" Bonthrone (16 June 1929 – 7 June 2008) was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
professionalProfessional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are those in which athletes receive payment for their performance. While men have competed as professional athletes throughout much of modern history, only recently has it become common for women to have the opportunity to become professional...
footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
,
coachIn sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.- Staff :...
and
managerA head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing sports men and women. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
.
Born in
KinglassieKinglassie is a small village in central Fife Scotland. It is located to the north of Kirkcaldy. The population of the village was recorded as 1,320 in the 2001 census.-History:...
,
FifeFife is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. It was originally one of the Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland.It is a...
, Bonthrone's playing career centred around his time with a successful
East FifeEast Fife Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Fife coastal town of Methil...
team, although he also played for
DundeeDundee Football Club, founded in 1893, is a football club based in the city of Dundee, Scotland. They are nicknamed The Dee or The Dark Blues and play their home matches at Dens Park. Their home shirt colour is dark blue....
, and for
George FarmGeorge Neil Farm was a Scottish professional football goalkeeper and manager.Born in Slateford, a suburb of Edinburgh, Farm represented his country on ten occasions, the last three of which occurred after a gap of five years....
at. He won the
Scottish League CupThe Scottish Football League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Co-operative Insurance Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with Co-operative Insurance Society. In the past it has been...
as a player with East Fife while they were a
Division TwoThe Irn-Bru Scottish Football League First Division Championship is the highest division of the Scottish Football League and the second highest in the Scottish football league system....
club.
After retiring as a player, Bonthrone
managedA head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing sports men and women. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
East Fife from 1963 until 1969 before assisting
Eddie TurnbullEdward Hunter Turnbull is a former Scottish professional association football player and manager.During the 1950s he was one of the Famous Five, the noted Hibernian forward line, along with Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, and Willie Ormond...
at
AberdeenAberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
. Bonthrone was assistant manager when Aberdeen won the
Scottish CupThe Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, and as the Active Nation Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football...
in
1970The 1969–70 Scottish Cup was the 85th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Aberdeen who defeated Celtic in the final.-Preliminary round 1:-Preliminary round 2:-Replays:-First round:-Replays:...
. He was promoted to become the Aberdeen manager in 1971 after Turnbull moved to
HibernianHibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their rivals Hearts, who Hibernian play in the Edinburgh derby...
.
Bonthrone managed
the Dons from 1971 until his resignation in 1975. The club won the
Drybrough CupThe Drybrough Cup was a Scottish annual football tournament. It was held from 1971 until 1974, and was revived from 1979 to 1980. It was open to the four highest-scoring teams from Division 1, and the four highest-scoring teams from Division 2...
in 1971 just after he was appointed. He gave
Willie MillerWilliam Ferguson Miller, MBE is a former professional football player who made a club record 558 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in the world".-Aberdeen:...
his debut, but had to contend with the high profile departures of
Martin BuchanMartin McLean Buchan was a Scottish football player. Buchan was a central defender for Manchester United in 1972-1983, and captained the late 1970s teams for six years...
and
Joe HarperJoseph Montgomery Harper is a Scottish former footballer, mainly remembered for his two spells with Aberdeen, during which he became the club's record goalscorer.-Club career:...
, which effectively broke up the team that had been successful under Turnbull.
After leaving Aberdeen, he became commercial manager with East Fife before retiring.
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