[4] James was born in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, on 11 October 1880 to John McMenamin and Hannah Regan; his father adopted the name 'McMenamin' after he moved to Scotland from County Tyrone.

[12] One of his first important actions was away from the pitch when he successfully persuaded Bennett to join him at the club;[13] the pair would form Celtic's first famous forward line, along with Davie Hamilton (another former Cambuslang Hibs player), Jimmy Quinn and Peter Somers.

McMenemey was in the team that defeated Rangers 3–2 in the 1904 Scottish Cup final after being down 2–0,[14] and also played and opened the scoring in a playoff match against the same opposition to decide the 1904–05 league title.

Rangers built a strong team of their own (including Alec Bennett, who had switched sides in 1908)[17] which took the next three titles, but McMenemy remained with Celtic while others were replaced.

[18] This team, including new stars Patsy Gallacher, Jimmy McColl and Andy McAtee plus survivors from the earlier successful squad such as Alec McNair and 'Sunny Jim' Young would win a further three titles, and set a sequence of 62 league games unbeaten (65 including the minor Glasgow Cup and Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup) which would not be surpassed for a century.

[4] He also won six Scottish Cup medals with the club[23] (although the only final in which he scored was 1912 against Clyde),[24] an equally impressive total considering the trophy was withheld in 1909[25] and five editions were not contested during the war.

He came back to Partick Thistle as a coach, then in 1934 returned to Celtic as trainer assisting Willie Maley (the same manager who had brought him to the club three decades earlier), helping players such as Jimmy Delaney and Willie Buchan to develop and taking charge of the squad which won the Empire Exhibition Trophy in 1938,[12][36] having already secured that season's League title.

[38] In 2014, the 'Celtic Graves Society' held a commemorative event for McMenemy in Dalbeth St Peters Cemetery to recognise his achievements, attended by family members and former players.