James Trainer

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title: "James Trainer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["wales-men's-international-footballers", "welsh-men's-footballers", "wrexham-a.f.c.-players", "great-lever-f.c.-players", "preston-north-end-f.c.-players", "bolton-wanderers-f.c.-players", "english-football-league-players", "men's-association-football-goalkeepers", "footballers-from-wrexham", "1863-births", "1915-deaths", "english-football-league-representative-players", "wrexham-victoria-f.c.-players", "welsh-baseball-players"] description: "Welsh footballer" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Trainer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Welsh footballer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox football biography"]

Field	Value
name	James Trainer
image	James Trainer.jpg
fullname	James Trainer
birth_date
birth_place	Wrexham, Wales
death_date
death_place	Paddington, England
height	5 ft 11 in
position	Goalkeeper
youthclubs1	Penybryn Wanderers
youthclubs2	Challenger BC
youthyears3	1876–1878
youthclubs3	Wrexham Victoria
youthyears4	1878–1881
youthclubs4	Wrexham Grosvenor
years1	1881–1883
clubs1	Wrexham
years2	1883–1885
clubs2	Great Lever
years3	1885–1887
clubs3	Bolton Wanderers
years4	1887–1899
clubs4	Preston North End
caps4	253
goals4	0
nationalyears1	1887–1899
nationalteam1	Wales
nationalcaps1	20
nationalgoals1	0
::

| name = James Trainer | image = James Trainer.jpg | fullname = James Trainer | birth_date = | birth_place = Wrexham, Wales | death_date = | death_place = Paddington, England | height = 5 ft 11 in | position = Goalkeeper | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Penybryn Wanderers | youthyears2 = | youthclubs2 = Challenger BC | youthyears3 = 1876–1878 | youthclubs3 = Wrexham Victoria | youthyears4 = 1878–1881 | youthclubs4 = Wrexham Grosvenor | years1 = 1881–1883 | clubs1 = Wrexham | caps1 = | goals1 = | years2 = 1883–1885 | clubs2 = Great Lever | caps2 = | goals2 = | years3 = 1885–1887 | clubs3 = Bolton Wanderers | caps3 = | goals3 = | years4 = 1887–1899 | clubs4 = Preston North End | caps4 = 253 | goals4 = 0 | nationalyears1 = 1887–1899 | nationalteam1 = Wales | nationalcaps1 = 20 | nationalgoals1 = 0 James Trainer (7 January 1863 in Wrexham – 5 August 1915 in Paddington, Central London, England) was a Welsh association football player of the Victorian era. He was named the best goalkeeper of the English Football League several consecutive seasons starting in 1888–89, when he was part of the unbeaten Preston North End team nicknamed "The Invincibles".

Football career

James Trainer, a time–served coachbuilder played his first senior match for a Wrexham club and before long had established a reputation as an excellent goalkeeper. He left the 'Robins' under a cloud, following a particularly rough FA Cup tie against Oswestry in December 1883. He was alleged to have insulted the referee and the FA banned Wrexham from the competition and reported Trainer's offence to the Football Association of Wales. After a spell with Great Lever, he joined Bolton Wanderers in 1884. He went on to appear in a number of pre–League games for the Wanderers and his form earned him international recognition when he played for Wales against Scotland in 1887. Trainer enjoyed his greatest success at Preston North End as a member of the 'Invincibles'. Curiously he had impressed North End while playing for Bolton at Deepdale, the home of Preston North End, in a match in which he let in 12 goals. He first appeared for North End in August 1887 on a short tour of Scotland. Although he was on the losing side against Hibernian, it was another eight months before he tasted defeat again. Trainer sharpened up his catching ability by playing for the club's baseball team and in North End's pre–League days was known to 'wear a mackintosh' and 'shelter under an umbrella' during a game.

Jimmy Trainer made his League debut on 8 September 1888 in goal for Preston North End against Burnley at Deepdale. Preston won 5–2. Jimmy Trainer played 20 of Preston' 22 League Championship matches and as a goalkeeper played in a Preston North End defence that achieved 12 clean-sheets and restricted the opposition to one–League–goal–in–a–match on three separate occasions. Jimmy Trainer assisted Preston North End to be 1888–89 League Champions. Preston North End went onto win the 1889 FA Cup and complete the first–ever double. However, in 1888 Preston practiced what is common practive now. The No:2 goalkeeper played in FA Cup ties and so Trainer did not play in the 1889 FA Cup campaign.

Between 1888 and 1897 Trainer played in 253 games for Preston, and after retiring he became landlord of the Lamb Hotel in Preston.

He later moved to London, where his business failed. He died in poverty in 1915.

Professional Baseball

In 1890 Trainer played first base professionally Preston North End Baseball Club in the National League of Baseball of Great Britain.

Honours

Wrexham

• Welsh Cup: 1883

References

References

1. (1894-02-26). "IWALESVIRELAND – South Wales Daily News". David Duncan and Sons.
2. ''Fußball-Weltzeitschrift'' No. 10, Jan/Feb 1988.
3. Hayes, Dean. (2006). "The Who's Who of Preston North End". Breedon Books.
4. "English National Football Archive".
5. "James Trainer : Biography at Spartacus Educational".
6. (24 June 1890). "The Baseball Championship". Lancashire Evening Post.
7. "IFootball. /".

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