Jimmy Philip
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Jimmy Philip

Jimmy Philip (1863 – 12 October 1930) was the first coach of Scottish football club Aberdeen F.C. He was in charge of the club virtually from its foundation in 1903 until his retirement in 1924.

Philip was the only son of four children. His father James Philip (born 1833) and mother Jane Philip (born 1830) were both Brass Founders. Their daughters Jane Philip (1861) Eliza Philip (1864) were both Envelope Makers and the youngest Isabella (1872) was a scholar. Philip married Mary Ann Forsyth (1864–1937) and had five children: James, Dot, Lily, Mary and George John (1905–1972).

Philip was a native Aberdonian, he had a wide range of sporting interests, and he had proposed to underwrite the first overseas tour by a Scottish international team. He was also a referee, although by profession he was a wood-turner.

Philip was appointed part-time manager for the first competitive game of the new club, a 1–1 draw with Stenhousemuir on 15 August 1903. In that first season, Aberdeen won the Aberdeenshire Cup, and subsequently made a bid to be elected to the Scottish Football League Division One. Philip was despatched to Glasgow to make the club's case, and returned with the promise of enough support. However, the final decision of the existing league members was to elect Aberdeen to the Second Division.

During that second season, the Qualifying Cup was won at Dens Park in Dundee, a 2–0 victory over Renton, former Scottish Cup holders. Progress in the league was not so straightforward, and the club ended the season in seventh place of twelve. However, a proposal by Celtic to expand Division One to 16 clubs meant that places were available for the 1905–06 season, and Aberdeen were duly elected.

Thereafter, progress was steady rather than spectacular, the club finishing in 12th position in the next two seasons, although there was a Scottish Cup semi-final in 1908, in which Celtic prevailed at Pittodrie. For the next few seasons, Aberdeen seem to have been genuine contenders for League honours, topping the table on more than one occasion, but never at season's end. In the 1910–11 season, both Rangers and Celtic were beaten at Pittodrie for the first time, and another Cup semi-final followed. That game, too, was lost to Celtic, but the strength of the side that season led to an invitation to a close season tour of Bohemia, Moravia, and Poland.

After the end of the 1911–12 season, Philip served as a referee at the Olympic Games in Stockholm.

In April 1920, Philip's position became full-time, in spite of the relative penury of the club at this time, but during wartime, the position reverted to part-time. The manager and players struggled on through the early years of the war, the team often made up of locally billeted servicemen, but by early 1917, the strain on finances, and the lack of public enthusiasm was too much, and the club withdrew from competition.

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