James Welford

James William Welford (27 March 1869 – 17 January 1945) was an English cricketer and footballer. In cricket, Welford was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast. He was born in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

Welford made his debut for Durham in the 1895 Minor Counties Championship against Cheshire. He made five further appearances in that season for the county. He joined Warwickshire for the 1896 season, making his first-class debut for the county in the County Championship against Surrey. He made twleve further first-class appearances in 1896, the last of which came against Hampshire. In this thirteen first-class appearances for Warwickshire, he scored 459 runs at an average of 21.85, with a high score of 118. This score, which was his only first-class century, came against Leicestershire. With the ball, he took 2 wickets at a bowling average of 90.00, with best figures of 1/13.

Welford's playing position was as a full-back, he had played for Stockton F.C. and Bishop Auckland F.C., before joining Birmingham St George's F.C., from where he joined Aston Villa F.C. in 1893. He played for Aston Villa from 1893 to 1896, making a total of 83 appearances in both League and Cup, scoring one goal. While at Villa, he formed a key partnership in defence with Bob Chatt. He won the 1895 FA Cup with Aston Villa. From Aston Villa he moved to Celtic F.C. in Scotland.

He died in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 17 January 1945.