Preston North End Pre-League era (1883–1888) Jimmy Ross came south to
Preston to join his famous elder brother
Nick. His debut for
Preston North End happened by chance – he had to gone to
Padiham on 24 November 1883 as a spectator to watch his brother play but, as the team were a couple of men short, he was invited to play. He scored two goals in North End's 4–0 win. Ross was a phenomenal goalscorer. In the four seasons up to the formation of the Football League in 1888, he scored over 250 goals in only 220 appearances, including in a
Lancashire Senior Cup final. Born in
Edinburgh, he was unlucky not to have been chosen for his country as the
Scottish Football Association selectors only chose from players at clubs north of the border at the time. Ross formed a highly successful partnership up front for North End with England international
John Goodall. He scored seven goals against
Hyde United in a 26–0 win and six against
Reading when North End won 18–0. Jimmy Ross appeared in the
1888 FA Cup final against
West Bromwich Albion which Preston North End lost 2–1.
Football League debut (1888–1894) Ross made his League debut on 8 September 1888 as a forward against
Burnley at Preston North End's
Deepdale ground. Preston won 5–2 and Ross scored the third and fourth goals. On 13 October 1888, in a League match at Deepdale against
West Bromwich Albion, Ross scored in the 88th minute to put his team 3–0 up and became the first League player to score ten League goals. Ross played in 21 of Preston's 22 League Championship matches and scored 19 goals, including four on 6 October 1888 at Deepdale against
Stoke in a 7–0 win. He also scored two on four occasions: on 8 September 1888 at Deepdale against Burnley, on 29 September 1888 at
County Ground in a 3–2 win against
Derby County, in a 5–2 win at
Pike's Lane over home team
Bolton Wanderers and in a 5–0 win at
Stoney Lane against home team West Bromwich Albion. Ross played in all five FA Cup ties for season 1888–89 and scored two goals including a goal in the Final at
Kennington Oval on 30 March 1889 against
Wolverhampton Wanderers; Preston North End won 3–0 to complete the first–ever League and FA Cup double.
Liverpool In 1894 Ross was signed for
Liverpool by the club's manager
John McKenna for £75. He made his debut for his new club in a
Football League Division One match on 13 September 1894 and went on to score 12 times during the season, which ended with Liverpool being relegated. A prolific goalscorer in his time at Liverpool, Ross found the
Second Division defences more to his liking managing to hit the net 23 times in 25 outings, spearheading the Reds charge back to the top tier. That season he came close to gaining international recognition when the SFA relaxed their rule on English players and he was selected for the first
Home Scots v Anglo-Scots trial match; however no call-up to the full team resulted. The
following season Liverpool managed to establish themselves in the
First Division, finishing 5th; he only scored twice in his 21 matches.
Burnley After his short spell at
Anfield Ross was transferred out, signing for Second Division side
Burnley in March 1897. There he scored 29 goals in 51 games. Just prior to his arrival, Burnley had been relegated and with Ross's help, they gained promotion back to the First Division in the 1898 test matches, ending with a 0–0 draw against
Stoke, a scandal that ended test matches in English league football. Around the
fin de siècle the Football league decided to impose a maximum wage of £4 per week for professional football players. For a full-time player like Ross, able to play for wages of up to £10 a week, this was serious threat to their livelihood. To curb this threat, Ross and other top players of the time formed the
Association Footballers' Union. ==Professional baseball==