Jimmy Mullen (footballer, born 1923)

For other people named Jimmy Mullen, see Jimmy Mullen (disambiguation).

Jimmy Mullen

Personal information
Full name	James Mullen
Date of birth	(1923-01-06)6 January 1923
Place of birth	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Date of death	23 October 1987(1987-10-23) (aged 64)
Place of death	Wolverhampton, England
Position(s)	Outside left
Youth career
	Newcastle Boys
	Northumberland Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1937–1960	Wolverhampton Wanderers	445	(98)
International career
1947–1954	England	12	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

James Mullen (6 January 1923 – 23 October 1987) was an English international footballer who played as an outside left.

Mullen spent his whole career at Wolverhampton Wanderers where he won three English Football League championships and the FA Cup. He also represented the England national team at both the 1950 and 1954 World Cup.

Career

Mullen joined the Midlanders in June 1937, turned professional on his 17th birthday, and remained with the club until his retirement in May 1960. His league debut came in February 1939, in a 4–1 win over Leeds United. He made 488 appearances in total, scoring 112 goals, helping the club win their only three league titles (1953–54, 1957–58 and 1958–59) as well as the FA Cup in 1949.

He also played for England, earning 12 caps. He became England's first ever substitute in an international on 18 May 1950, scoring against Belgium at Heysel Stadium in a 4–1 win. He also played in the 1950 FIFA World Cup and the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He scored 6 goals, including in the 1954 World Cup against Switzerland.

During wartime, he served as a soldier in the Army from 1942 onward, based at Farnborough, Catterick and Barnard Castle. After retiring from football, he ran a sports shop in Wolverhampton until shortly before his death.

He died at the age of 64

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1938–39	First Division	8	0	2	0	–		–		10	0
	1945–46		–		4	1	–		–		4	1
	1946–47		38	11	0	0	–		–		38	11
	1947–48		34	8	3	2	–		–		37	10
	1948–49		38	12	7	3	–		–		45	15
	1949–50		40	10	6	1	–		1	0	47	11
	1950–51		31	5	6	1	–		–		37	6
	1951–52		40	11	3	3	–		–		43	14
	1952–53		41	11	1	0	–		–		42	11
	1953–54		38	7	1	0	–		–		39	7
	1954–55		17	5	0	0	–		–		17	5
	1955–56		36	7	1	0	–		–		37	7
	1956–57		30	3	2	1	–		–		32	4
	1957–58		38	4	4	2	–		–		42	6
	1958–59		16	4	0	0	2	0	–		18	4
Career total			445	98	40	14	2	0	1	0	488	112

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
England	1947	1	0
	1949	2	1
	1950	3	1
	1953	3	2
	1954	3	2
Total		12	6

Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mullen goal.

List of international goals scored by Jimmy Mullen

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	18 May 1949	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–0	4–1	Friendly
2	18 May 1950	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1–1	4–1	Friendly
3	21 October 1953	Wembley Stadium, London, England	FIFA World XI	2–3	4–4	Friendly
4				3–3
5	3 April 1954	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Scotland	4–1	4–2	1954 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	20 June 1954	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–0	2–0	1954 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• First Division: 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59; runners-up:1938–39, 1949–50, 1954–55
• FA Cup: 1949
• FA Charity Shield: 1949 (Shared)

External links

• Official Wolves profile Archived 10 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine
• Wolves Heroes Archived 21 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine