Jim Bett

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Jim Bett
Personal information
Full name James Bett[1]
Date of birth (1959-11-25) 25 November 1959 (age 64)
Place of birth Hamilton, Scotland
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Gartcosh United
Dundee
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976–1978 Airdrieonians 8 (0)
1978 Valur 2 (0)
1978–1980 Lokeren 33 (1)
1980–1983 Rangers 104 (21)
1983–1985 Lokeren 64 (7)
1985–1994 Aberdeen 257 (33)
1994 Valur 13 (4)
1994–1995 Heart of Midlothian 26 (2)
1995–1996 Dundee United 23 (2)
Total 530 (70)
International career
1980–1982 Scotland U21[2] 7 (0)
1982–1990 Scotland 26 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

James Bett (born 25 November 1959) is a Scottish former professional association footballer who played in central or left midfield. He played with Aberdeen for nine seasons and had shorter spells at other clubs in Belgium, Iceland and Scotland. He earned 26 caps for the Scotland national team over eight years.

Playing career[edit]

A Scottish Schoolboy international born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire,[3] Bett started his club career with Gartcosh United, Dundee and Airdrieonians before moving to Icelandic side Valur in 1978. A year later he joined K.S.C. Lokeren (282) in Belgium.

Rangers manager John Greig paid £150,000 to sign Bett for the Glasgow club in 1980. In three seasons at Ibrox he won the Scottish Cup (1980–81)[4] and a League Cup (1981–82).[3] He left Rangers in 1983 for a second spell with Lokeren.

Bett returned to his native land, joining Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985 for £300,000.[3] During his time with the Dons, he collected winner's medals in the Scottish Cup in 1985–86,[5] and both the League Cup and Scottish Cup in 1989–90,[6] He also played in three other League Cup finals – all ending in defeat to Rangers,[7][8][9] and was in squads which finished runners-up behind his former club in the Scottish Premier Division on five occasions.

He left Pittodrie in 1994, after making over 300 first-team appearances. In 2003, Bett was inducted into the Aberdeen FC Hall of Fame as one of the founding members.[10]

He next moved to KR Reykjavík and won the Icelandic Cup with the club, but left KR at the end of the 1994 Icelandic season. Bett returned to Scotland again to join Hearts with whom he played the 1994–95 Scottish season. After a final season with Dundee United, he retired.

International[edit]

During his spell with Rangers, Bett earned his first selection for the Scotland national side, making the first of 26 appearances in 1982.[11] While playing for Aberdeen at club level, he was a member of the Scottish World Cup squads in 1986, where he did not play, and 1990, where his only appearance was in the opening 1–0 defeat to Costa Rica, which turned out to be the final cap of his career.[11]

Personal life[edit]

Bett met his Icelandic wife during his time playing for Valur and has maintained a close connection with Iceland since. His sons Baldur and Calum, also both professional footballers, were born there and have represented the country at Under-19 level.[12] Coincidentally, Bett's only goal for Scotland occurred in a 1–0 win over Iceland in Reykjavík in 1985.[12]

Career statistics[edit]

Club[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[13][14][15][16][17][18][edit]

Club Seasons League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Airdrieonians 1976-77 Scottish First Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 - - 1 0
1977-78 7 0 0 0 0 0 - - 7 0
Total 8 0 0 0 0 0 - - 8 0
Valur Reykjavik 1978 Úrvalsdeild 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Lokeren 1978-79 Belgian First Division 0 0 - - - - - - 0+ 0+
1979-80 33 1 - - - - - - 33+ 1+
Total 33 1 - - - - - - 33+ 1+
Rangers 1980-81 Scottish Premier Division 34 4 7 1 4 0 0 0 45 5
1981-82 35 11 5 1 9 1 2 1 51 14
1982-83 35 6 6 0 11 5 4 0 56 11
Total 104 21 18 2 24 6 6 1 152 30
Lokeren 1983-84 Belgian First Division 32 1 - - - - - - 32+ 1+
1984-85 32 6 - - - - - - 32+ 6+
Total 64 7 - - - - - - 64+ 7+
Aberdeen 1985-86 Scottish Premier Division 24 3 6 0 3 0 4 0 37 3
1986-87 38 4 3 1 2 0 2 1 45 6
1987-88 38 10 5 0 5 3 3 1 51 14
1988-89 30 5 5 0 5 3 2 0 42 8
1989-90 30 3 4 1 5 2 2 0 41 6
1990-91 36 7 1 0 3 2 4 0 44 9
1991-92 38 1 1 0 2 0 2 0 43 1
1992-93 17 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 22 0
1993-94 6 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 13 0
Total 257 33 28 2 32 10 21 2 338 47
Valur Reykjavik 1994 Úrvalsdeild 13 4 - - - - - - 13+ 4+
Total 13 4 - - - - - - 13+ 4+
Hearts of Midlothian 1994-95 Scottish Premier Division 26 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 30 2
Total 26 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 30 2
Dundee United 1995-96 Scottish First Division 23 2 0 0 1 0 - - 24 2
Total 23 2 0 0 1 0 - - 24 2
Career total 530 70 50+ 4+ 57+ 16+ 27+ 3+ 664+ 93+

International[edit]

Scotland national team[19]
Year Apps Goals
1982 2 0
1983 1 0
1984 6 0
1985 6 1
1986 2 0
1987 2 0
1988 1 0
1989 2 0
1990 4 0
Total 26 1

International goals[edit]

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.[20]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 28 May 1985 Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland  Iceland 1–0 1–0 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours[edit]

Rangers[11]

Aberdeen[11]

Scotland

References[edit]

  1. ^ A Record of Post-war Scottish League Players 1946/47 to 2017/18. 7. John Litster and Scottish Football Historian magazine. 2018.
  2. ^ "[Scotland U21 player] Bett, Jim". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Lamming, Douglas (1987). A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who's Who, 1872–1986 (Hardback). Hutton Press. ISBN 0-907033-47-4. ().
  4. ^ "Six of the best Scottish Cup finals: Rangers 4 Dundee United 1 (1981, replay)". The Herald. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Scottish Cup: 1986 revisited". Aberdeen F.C. 6 January 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  6. ^ Traynor, James (14 May 1990). "Stagnant Celtic pay ultimate penalty. Snelders saves Rogan's kick and Irvine secures cup for Aberdeen". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  7. ^ Reynolds, Jim (26 October 1987). "Spot-on Rangers earn the cheers". Glasgow Herald. p. 9. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Now you know: Ally McCoist double helped Rangers defeat Aberdeen 3-2 in 1988 League Cup Final". Evening Times. Glasgow. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. ^ McKinney, David (26 October 1992). "Football: Smith's slip gives Rangers the prize". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  10. ^ "Hall of Fame: Jim Bett". AFC Heritage Trust. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d "Dark Blue Dons: Jim Bett". AFC Heritage Trust. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. ^ a b "News Archive". Bob Dunning 1970–71 Football review. 30 September 2005. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013.
  13. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Jim Bett". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Lokeren player archive". Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ "Rangers Player Jim Bett Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Jim Bett - Hearts Career - from 08 Oct 1994 to 09 Aug 1995". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  18. ^ "Jim Bett | Player Statistics | Dundee United (Arab Archive)". www.arabarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  19. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Jim Bett". national-football-teams.com.
  20. ^ "Jim Bett". scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association.
  21. ^ "Rous-ing win for makeshift Scots". Glasgow Herald. 27 May 1985. p. 15 – via Google News Archive.

External links[edit]

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