He departed for the United States in 1977 where he would spend the remainder of his career, with spells at Washington Diplomats, Pittsburgh Spirit, Memphis Rogues and Chicago Sting.
[4] Dundee signed him as a 17-year-old and he made his debut in the first team with a solitary appearance in the 1967–68 season against Stirling Albion at Annfield.
[7][8] These high-profile games brought him to the attention of English clubs and soon Leeds United and Southampton (alerted by their former player and scout, Campbell Forsyth) expressed an interest.
[5][9] The pinnacle of his career came in Southampton's 1976 FA Cup final victory over Manchester United and his performance at the centre of Saints' defence, alongside Mel Blyth, earned him the man of the match award.
[5][10] On 16 March 1977, Saints were playing Anderlecht in the European Cup-winners' Cup when Jim made a mistake in defence allowing Van der Elst to get past him to score the winning goal.
[5][10] This error, coupled with the sending-off, led to a falling-out with the manager Lawrie McMenemy, who was intent on a wholesale rebuilding of the team in order to gain promotion back to Division 1, and Jim made his final appearance for Saints away to Nottingham Forest on 22 March 1977.