Payne Jimmy Image 1 Liverpool 1948

Description

Bootle, Liverpool born outside right Jimmy Payne was dubbed the “Merseyside Matthews” Payne was a tricky, diminutive right winger beating man after man for fun, although he did spend part of the 1951-52 season at inside-left, a position he was not really suited to. Payne began his football career with Bootle in 1941 and signed for Liverpool in May 1942, turning professional in November 1944. He made his Football League debut against Bolton Wanderers at Anfield on 11th September 1948, immediately becoming a first team regular. In his second season Payne played 7 matches in Liverpool’s run to the FA Cup Final, scoring twice in earlier rounds, but Liverpool were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in the Final at Wembley.

After Liverpool’s League title win in 1947, Liverpool’s fortunes gradually declined and they were relegated to the Second Division at the end of the 1953-54 season, the season from which he was less regular, playing less than half of Liverpool’s matches in each of his final three seasons. Payne struggled with injuries in the latter part of his career, lost his form and the Liverpool crowd seemed to turn against him. After 43 goals in 243 matches for Liverpool, Payne eventually signed for Everton in April 1956 but due to injuries his spell there was a brief one, playing only 6 matches, scoring twice. He retired from the game  in the summer of 1957.