Fyp Top 50 Players Countdown: No.3 - Jim Cannon

No.3 Jim Cannon

By Martin Searle

Jim ‘Jimbo’ Cannon. Great central defender. Where to start? The holder of the club record for first team appearances – set over 16 seasons, nearly 11 of them as captain, including the games when we won the Division Two Championship and when we topped the top division. One of the best Scottish players never to play for Scotland (merely called up for the squad once, in 1979). Rugged, consistent, reliable. And anybody who gave Danny Baker his second worst ‘sporting’ (Millwall) moment has to be cherished.

He was spotted by Palace’s Scottish scout (who must have been very busy or certainly listened to in those days) playing for Glasgow Amateurs, came down for a trial, and was signed as a apprentice in early 1970, age 16. When Big Mal was made manager in March 1973 in an attempt to avoid relegation, his first game was at home to Chelsea. He threw 19 year-old Jim in for his League debut (his first game was actually against Verona in the Anglo-Italian Cup). Jim, paired in the centre of the defence with Mel Blyth, up against Osgood and Garner, had a dream game. He was booked ...