JIMMY IREMONGER AT 150
‘Big brother’ of a big sporting family
Jimmy Iremonger, the eldest of three sporting brothers, was born 150 years ago (5 March 1876), in Norton-on-Derwent in Yorkshire but he and his brothers – Albert and Harry – found fame as key members of Nottingham’s Victorian sports communities.
The family moved to Wilford when James was very young and the family grew up in that area. James Iremonger snr was a Police Sergeant and a drill instructor for the local force, perhaps where the three boys got their early training.
Jimmy Iremonger first came to Trent Bridge as youngster. He won the prize bat for the highest score by a colt in the Colts match of April 1897 with a score of 25 and then played v Yorkshire Colts in May of the same year.
The following month came his debut for Nottinghamshire – versus Staffordshire at Stoke – a further trial followed v Northamptonshire in July.
During 1898 he made a second appearance against Staffordshire and played against Durham at Darlington and versus Worcestershire, none of these First-Class games. In these two latter matches his bowling (of which, more later) was a distinct asset, as he returned first innings figures of 11-4-23-5 and 25-8-59-9 respectively.
His First-Class debut match was Nottinghamshire v Lancashire on 8 May 1899 but after a few games he lost his first team place. Much improved form in some preliminary matches in 1900 – including a century against the touring West Indies (not then a First-Class fixture) – enabled him to re-establish his claim and he continued to represent Nottinghamshire until war interrupted play.
For four consecutive seasons – 1903, 1904, 1905 and 1906 – Iremonger came out on top of the Nottinghamshire First-Class averages. In the first of those he was named among the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
In each of those years, he scored at least one double century including, in 1904, his career-best of 272, made against Kent at Trent Bridge.
In all First-Class matches in 1904 he scored 1,983 runs and stood fifth in the season’s national averages – being, incidentally, below his opening partner AO Jones. He passed 1,000 runs in a season nine times, including in his final year of First-Class cricket in 1914.
His brother Albert played 14 First-Class matches for Notts but it was a goalkeeper that he made his name.
Albert played for Notts County for almost two decades, setting a long-time unbeaten goalkeeping playing record, keeping in 222 consecutive League and Cup games and made 601 appearances overall. Notts County made him their first honorary vice president in 1952. It is also believed Iremonger was the tallest player in the league at the time, measuring 6 ft 5in.
Albert also guested for Nottingham Forest; after retirement, Albert scouted for Notts County and later became pub landlord at the Ferry Inn in Wilford, close to where he and Jimmy had grown up.
Jimmy played football for Nottingham Forest, making more than 300 appearances and was capped three times by England (something he never quite achieved in cricket), against Scotland and Germany in 1901 and Ireland in 1902. After leaving Forest he joined Notts County as player-coach.
Albert didn’t match Jimmy for international honours – the closest he came was being capped for the Football League in a representative game in 1912.
Harold, the third brother, also played football and cricket without ever quite scaling the heights of his elder siblings.
Jimmy Iremonger finished his cricket career with 334 First-Class games. He made 16,622 runs with that top score of 272 among 31 centuries and an average of 35.06. One of those centuries, 108, came in the first County Championship home game to be played away from Trent Bridge when Notts beat Derbyshire at Welbeck Abbey. Iremonger’s innings was unremarked at the time as Topsy Wass had match figures of 13-40!
Though now remembered as a stylish batter, Jimmy could be effective as a bowler and took 619 First-Class wickets at 22.98, with 35 five-wicket hauls and eight occasions when he took ten or more in a match. His best figures were 8-21 against Gloucestershire in 1912.
One of the more unlikely matches that Jimmy Iremonger played was a charity match in 1906 when an AO Jones XI took on an eleven brought together by the great Music Hall comic George Robey!
Iremonger was one of six Notts players in George Robey’s XI, the same number as appeared for ‘Jonah’ Jones’s team. George Robey, nicknamed ‘The Prime Minister of Mirth’, was a cricket nut and a long-time member of the MCC; there are three other games listed for his invitation eleven (though none with Jimmy Iremonger).
A century-and-a-half after his birth, Jimmy Iremonger still holds a firm place in the history of Nottinghamshire cricket and sport across the City.
March 2026