Jimmy Case

James Robert Case (born 18 May 1954) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He gained national prominence with Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Case was brought up in Allerton and was a distant neighbour of musician Paul McCartney on the council estate which had been built in the interwar years.

He was a keen member of the local scouts.

As a teenager he was quite small for his age.

Although small in stature, Case graduated through the schools' teams and then joined a tough dockers' side, Blue Union.

The physical nature of these early games would affect the rest of his football career.

Upon leaving school, Case served an apprenticeship as an electrician and continued with this even after signing for Liverpool and playing in their reserves.

Those who knew Case as a teenager were amazed at his physical transformation.

He always had determination, but by the time he left South Liverpool he had a physical stature and height that belied his earlier years.

Case was also training to become an electrician, working all day but training with Liverpool two mornings and two nights a week.

Case arrived at Anfield from local non-league club South Liverpool in May 1973 and was given his debut on 26 April 1975 in a league fixture at Anfield against Queens Park Rangers; goals from John Toshack (2), and Kevin Keegan made it a winning start for Case as the Reds won 3–1.

By 1976 he was a first-choice midfielder who was a prolific goalscorer for someone in his position; his first goal for the club came in the 68th minute of the 3–2 league win over Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on 23 August 1975.

At the end of his first full season, he helped Liverpool to victory in the League championship and the UEFA Cup, scoring in the first leg of the final of the latter against FC Bruges.

Case maintained his place the following year (1976–77) as Liverpool chased a unique treble of League Championship, FA Cup and European Cup.

They were league champions for the second season in a row, but lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final to Manchester United 2–1.

Case was the scorer of Liverpool's goal shortly after their opponents had taken the lead; it was a typical Case goal, a thundering shot from outside the penalty area following a neat turn on the ball.

He was in the team again a few days later when Liverpool won the 1977 European Cup Final, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 in Rome.

Case won both the League (1978–79, 1979–80) and the European Cup twice more (1978 against Club Brugge in the final, 1981 against Real Madrid) with Liverpool, and added a League Cup winners' medal in 1981 (against West Ham United in the final), but in that season he found himself out of favour.

Manager Bob Paisley was concerned by Case's close friendship with fellow midfielder Ray Kennedy, with the two regularly embroiled in off-the-pitch escapades—culminating in their both being charged with assault in the spring of 1980 —and with the emergence of Sammy Lee on the right side of midfield, made the difficult decision to offload Case.

Paisley transferred him to Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 1981.

Case joined Brighton in August 1981 as a £450,000 makeweight when Mark Lawrenson went the other way and he played a large part in the success achieved at the Goldstone Ground in the early 1980s.

With Brighton, Case scored the winning goal at Anfield in the 5th round of the 1983 FA Cup, also scoring in the quarter and semi finals as the Albion reached the final for the only time to date.

The game ended 2–2 with Brighton passing up a great opportunity to win the cup when Gordon Smith hit a shot directly at United keeper Gary Bailey, who pulled off a spectacular save.

Brighton's chance of glory had gone, and they were crushed 4–0 in the replay.

They had already been relegated from the First Division in bottom place.

In spite of this setback, Case remained at the Goldstone Ground for nearly two years after the Seagulls were relegated, including a further FA Cup victory over Liverpool in January 1984.

In March 1985, Case moved to Southampton for a nominal fee of £30,000 as Lawrie McMenemy's last signing for The Saints, to replace Steve Williams, who had been transferred to Arsenal in December 1984.

He soon won over any doubters amongst The Dell fans with some robust tackling.

In his first few weeks at the club, they finished fifth in the league, but were then denied UEFA Cup qualification due to the subsequent ban on English clubs in European competitions, which followed the Heysel Disaster that year.

When McMenemy quit after the end of the season, Case was appointed club captain by new manager Chris Nicholl.

In his first full season, Saints reached the semi-final of the FA Cup (after beating Case's former club Brighton 2–0 in the quarter-final) losing to Liverpool in an epic game at White Hart Lane on 5 April 1986, which Liverpool won 2–0 after extra time with both goals coming from Ian Rush.

Victory would have made Case the first player to appear in three FA Cup finals with different clubs.

Over his six years at The Dell, Case lost none of his bite in the tackle and he made up for any loss of pace by a broadening vision and excellent passing skills.

Case is still highly thought of amongst the Anfield faithful, he was voted in at No. 45 in the 2006 poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop taken by the Official Liverpool Football Club web-site in which over 110,000 fans worldwide nominated their personal Top 10 players.

Case left Liverpool after a drink-induced fracas with fellow players in a North Wales hotel—which he refers to in his autobiography.

Bob Paisley thought it was time for Jimmy to move on, especially because whenever Case attended a local event, he ended up with dozens of pints on his table, bought by appreciative fans.

Paisley, in his wise way, realised that Case could eventually be brought down by his past and his south Liverpool connections.

Paisley lived in Woolton, just under two miles from Jimmy's childhood home.

On leaving Liverpool, Case went from strength to strength by not only becoming an icon at Brighton and Southampton, but also gaining recognition for his intelligent and thoughtful manner.