Herriot, goalkeeper who gave name to TV vet, dies at 85

The Scotland goalkeeper Jim Herriot, who gave the character’s name All Creatures Great and Small in the books and television series All Creatures, passed away at the age of 85.

After watching the goalkeeper play for Birmingham City in a televised game against Manchester United, Alf Wright, a practicing veterinarian, needed a pen name in order to comply with professional regulations prohibiting advertising. He chose James Herriot as his pen name.

Rival winger George Best had earlier said: “Jim Herriot was safer than the Bank of England after he scored in the 2-2 draw with the star-studded Red Devils.”

He was born in North Lanarkshire and made his debut with Dunfermline, where he competed for Jock Stein’s side against Valencia and Athletic Bilbao in famous European competitions before reaching the 1965 Scottish Cup final.

He was traded to Birmingham after his defeat by Celtic to win all of his Scotland caps under manager Bobby Brown, and he did so for six more.

After losing his job, he went on loan with Mansfield Town and Aston Villa before spending a short time in South Africa with Durban.

However, he made his way back to Scotland to join Hibs in 1971, maintained a clean sheet as they famously defeated Heart of Midlothian 7-0 on New Year’s Day at Tynecastle in 1973, and later won a Scottish League Cup trophy with a 2-1 victory over Celtic.

Herriot also triumphed against Celtic twice in the Drybrough Cup.

He moved to Partick Thistle two years later, left for St. Mirren in 1973, and spent some time there before making a loan to Morton. He then permanently joined Morton for the 1976–1977 season, retiring at the end of that year.