Jimmy Love was a Socceroo and Queensland representative player during the 1920s, before a lengthy career as a state selector. Love learned to play soccer in Scotland before arriving in Brisbane in June 1914. He joined Brisbane club Queen’s Park for the 1915 season with his brother John who would soon play for Queensland, earning his state caps before the war.
To distinguish between the two brothers in the newspapers, Love was known as James or Jas Love, while John was simply known as J. Love.
The pair enlisted in October 1916, but only James survived the conflict. James was assigned to the 15th Battalion and embarked for Europe a month after enlisting. He arrived in France in June 1917, where he received a gunshot wound to the neck in October. A lengthy period of recuperation in England, preceded his return to France in May 1918. His war ended in August after being gassed, which led to another evacuation to England, and a return to Australia.
Back in Brisbane, Love joined Merthyr Thistle in 1919, but the club soon suffered a split. When Merthyr Thistle’s senior side broke away to form Thistle in 1920, Love instead opted to rejoin Queen’s Park. The same year he was selected for an AIF team to take on a team from the British ship Renown. The AIF team was largely made up of pre-war players who had enlisted.
Love’s form for Queen’s Park in 1920 saw him selected for the first post-war Queensland squad. He was ever-present during Queensland’s home and away series against New South Wales, though he did not see much success. Queensland lost the home series as New South Wales recorded a win (0-5) and a draw (2-2) across the two-match series.
Later that year, Queensland travelled to New South Wales but lost both interstate games (0-3 and 0-2). Love’s first win in a Queensland shirt came as they beat Armidale 3-2 on the trip back home.
He finally joined Thistle in 1921, helping the club to top four finishes in each of his five years at the club. Love helped Thistle win a Queensland premiership in 1923 under the newly adopted Challenge Cup final series. Despite finishing second in the table, they beat Bundamba Rangers 5-1 in the final to claim the title.
Love did not appear in the 1921 Queensland side but returned to the fold in 1922. Again he did not see much success. Despite beating Armidale and Northern Districts (Newcastle) on the way down south, Queensland was beaten by New South Wales (2-3) in the only interstate test, followed by losses to Combined Hospitals and Granville. Love was dropped for the final game, a loss to South Coast.
Things did not improve in the return series later in the year. Love was picked for the first interstate game, as Queensland suffered another loss to New South Wales (0-1), but dropped for the second game as the visitors made it a clean sweep (0-2). He regained his place in 1923 as Queensland were beaten 3-1 by the touring New Zealand side in Brisbane.
He was subsequently selected for the Socceroo team and played as Australia beat New Zealand 2-1 in Brisbane. Brisbane’s The Week of 15 June 1923 claimed Love had been “the pick” of Australia’s defence. Love was unable to travel south for the remaining tests in Sydney and Newcastle. In his absence, Australia lost both games as New Zealand clinched the series. Later that year, Queensland again lost twice to visiting New South Wales (0-3 and 2-5), with Love only selected in the opening game. He was not selected for Queensland against the Chinese XI in September but was called-up by Australia to play the same opposition in Brisbane.
Love again saw international success as Australia beat the Chinese 5-0. He was not selected in the rest of the series which took part in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, representing the end of his interstate and international career.
By 1925, Love was more often named as a reserve by Thistle. He moved to the backroom role in 1926, becoming one of Thistles’ selectors as they won both the Q.F.A. Special Competition and the Ambulance Cup that season, and were again runners up in the top division. He still held the position in 1929. In the 1930s, Love became a selector for the Queensland and Brisbane representative teams, a role he held on and off into the 1950s.
It appears he had returned to Scotland by the time he passed away in the 1970s.