James Hamilton Speirs MM (22 March 1886 – 20 August 1917) was a Scottish footballer who represented his country on one occasion, scored the winning goal in the 1911 FA Cup Final, and received the Military Medal during the First World War.

He started his adult football career with local junior team Maryhill, where he played for less than a season, before he moved to Rangers in 1905.

His greatest success came in his second season with Bradford, when he was the club's captain and goalscorer in their FA Cup Final victory of 1911, in a team featuring eight Scottish-born players.

[7] Maryhill, whose Lochburn Park ground was five miles north of Speirs' home, were among the top sides in the junior leagues, and lifted 13 trophies in eight seasons at the turn of the 20th century.

[8] At the end of the season, Speirs and junior international John McFie both moved across Glasgow to First Division side Rangers,[8] who had finished second to city rivals Celtic after losing out in a title play-off.

Rangers improved to third place the following season as Speirs finished joint top scorer with 13 goals, but Celtic again were league winners.

[7] Speirs left his native Scotland during the summer of 1909, to head for Yorkshire and sign for Bradford City, under the management of his countryman Peter O'Rourke.

[16] The club reached the FA Cup Final in the same season, with Speirs playing in all but one of the games along the way, scoring in a 2–1 second round victory over Norwich City.

[17] Speirs, along with Frank Thompson and George Robinson, was censured by the Football Association following a scramble for the match ball at the end of the semi-final victory against Blackburn Rovers.

[4] The contents of his letter are not known, but in his reply, Veitch said Speirs had "expressed in sound terms the true spirit of comradeship, and the proper sentiments one would expect to see associated with the sportsman, and the sport".

[18] Speirs led out a team which contained eight Scots for the final at the Crystal Palace on 22 April 1911 against Newcastle United.

[20] The final replay was played four days later at Old Trafford, Manchester, with City making one change to the team, bringing in Bob Torrance for fellow Scottish defender Willie Gildea.

[18] The club's attempt to defend the victory came to an end after six consecutive clean sheets, when they were defeated 3–2 by Barnsley with Speirs scoring one of the goals.

[7] Speirs joined neighbours Leeds City, which played in the Second Division, for a fee of £1,200 (a then-record for both clubs),[23] in December 1912, becoming one of Herbert Chapman's first signings.

[4] Despite the outbreak of the First World War in June 1914, league football continued, but Leeds lost their first four games of the season and were unable to recover, finishing a lowly 15th.

League football was suspended at the end of the season and the last game of Speirs' career was a 2–0 defeat to Barnsley on 24 April 1915.

[26] He was appointed to the position of Lance Corporal while on training and after the British troops suffered heavy casualties,[1] Speirs was posted overseas on 29 May 1916.

[26][27] In April 1917, Speirs took part in the Second Battle of Arras,[26] for which he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in May 1917, before he was promoted to Sergeant in June.

He was initiated into Lodge Saint Vincent Sandyford No 553, based in Glasgow, on 11 March 1908, just four days after he had made his only Scottish appearance.

[29] Bradford City fan Mark Lawn bought Speirs' FA Cup winning medal.