Jim Bett
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Bett | ||
| Date of birth | 25 November 1959 | ||
| Place of birth | Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Gartcosh United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1978 | Airdrie | 8 | (0) |
| 1978 | Valur | 2 | (0) |
| 1978–1980 | Lokeren | 33 | (1) |
| 1980–1983 | Rangers | 104 | (21) |
| 1983–1985 | Lokeren | 64 | (7) |
| 1985–1994 | Aberdeen | 257 | (33) |
| 1994 | KR Reykjavík | 13 | (4) |
| 1994–1995 | Heart of Midlothian | 26 | (2) |
| 1995–1996 | Dundee United | 10 | (2) |
| National team | |||
| 1980–1982 | Scotland U21[1] | 7 | (0) |
| 1982–1990 | Scotland | 26 | (1) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
James "Jim" Bett (born 25 November 1959 in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former internationalist professional association footballer. He played nine seasons with Aberdeen and shorter spells at other clubs in three counties. He played in central or left midfield.
Playing career
Bett was a Scottish Schoolboy internationalist,[2] who started his career with Gartcosh United and Airdrieonians before moving to Icelandic side Valur in 1978.
A year later he joined K.S.C. Lokeren (282) in Belgium.
Rangers manager John Greig paid £150,000 to sign him for the Glasgow club in 1980. In three seasons at Ibrox he won a Scottish Cup winners medal (1980–81) and a League Cup winners medal (1982–83).[2] During this spell he also earned his first selection for the Scotland national side, making the first of 25 appearances in 1982.
Bett left Rangers in 1983 for a second spell with Lokeren.
He returned to his native land joining Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985 for £300,000.[2] During his time with the Dons he collected winners medals in the 1985–86 and 1989–90 seasons for both the Scottish League Cup and Scottish Cup. He left Pittodrie in 1994, after making almost 300 first-team appearances.
He next moved to KR Reykjavík. He won the Icelandic Cup with KR but left at the end of the 1994 Icelandic season.
He joined Hearts with whom he played the 1994–95 Scottish season.
After a final season with Dundee United he retired.
Personal life
Bett met his Icelandic wife during his time playing for Valur and has maintained a close connection with Iceland since. His sons Baldur and Calum, also both professional footballers, were born there and have represented the country at Under-19 level.[3] Coincidentally, Bett's only goal for Scotland occurred in a 1–0 win over Iceland in Reykjavík in 1985.[3]
Accolades
In 2003, Bett was inducted into the Aberdeen FC Hall of Fame as one of the founding members.
References
- ↑ "Jim Bett". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- 1 2 3 Lamming, Douglas (1987). A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who's Who, 1872–1986 (Hardback). Hutton Press. (ISBN 0-907033-47-4).
- 1 2 "News Archive". Bob Dunning 1970–71 Football review. 30 September 2005.
External links
- Jim Bett career statistics at Soccerbase
- Scotland appearances at londonhearts.com
- Profile and stats - Lokeren
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