He joined a club called Thornliebank who had reached the Scottish Cup final three years earlier.
For four seasons Accrington, like most football clubs played Friendly" matches and the only serious competition they took part in was the FA Cup.
Jim Bonar made his League debut on 8 September 1888 at Anfield, the then home of Everton.
Metcalf has reproduced a press article on the match from the Liverpool Mercury published on 10 September 1888.
As a forward he played in a forward line that scored 48 League goals and the club finished seventh in the League table[5] Jim Bonar' only season in top-flight football was described by Metcalf as "a professional who only played one season but failed to score a single goal in 17 games.