Jim Calder is a retired Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 professional

Professional sports

Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...

 association football player. Calder played as a striker until he received a knee ligament injury at the age of 26. He then played as a goalkeeper

Goalkeeper (football)

In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

, a highly unusual change given the specialist nature of that position.

Best known for his time with Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club are a Scottish football club from Inverness who compete in the Scottish Premier League. They are currently managed by Terry Butcher and assistant manager Maurice Malpas...

, where he played from the club's formation in 1994 until 2002. Calder had been inherited from the squad of Inverness Thistle

Inverness Thistle F.C.

Inverness Thistle Football Club were a football club playing in the city of Inverness in northern Scotland.They were members of the Highland Football League, winning the championship five times, including its inaugural season: 1893–94. They wore black and red stripes and played their home...

, who had merged with local rivals Caledonian

Caledonian F.C.

Caledonian Football Club was a football club from the city of Inverness, Highland, Scotland.-Formation:Caledonian Football Club was formed in 1885 by lads from the 'Big Green' area of Inverness, though some sources quote 1886. They were founder members of the Highland Football League in 1893 and...

 to form the new club. Calder's goalkeeping antics and spectacular saves made him a firm favourite with Caley fans. His best match was probably in 2000 when he turned out a man of the match performance in Caley Thistle's famous 3–1 Scottish Cup

Scottish Cup

The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...

 victory over Celtic

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

. Two seasons later Jim left Caley Thistle after the club signed Mark Brown

Mark Brown (footballer)

Mark Brown is a Scottish professional footballer, currently playing for Scottish Premier League side Hibernian. Brown, a goalkeeper has played for both Old Firm clubs, Rangers and Celtic. Hibs is Brown's sixth Scottish Premier League club, having also played for Motherwell, Inverness CT and...

.

Jim then signed for Nairn County

Nairn County F.C.

Nairn County F.C. are a senior football club who currently play in the Highland Football League.They were founded in 1914 and play at Station Park, Nairn.As a senior team they can play in the Scottish Cup....

. After leaving County in 2005, he took up short term contracts at several Highland League

Highland Football League

The Press & Journal Highland Football League is a league of football clubs operating not just in the Scottish Highlands, as the name may suggest, but also in the north-east lowlands...

 clubs, including Clach

Clachnacuddin F.C.

Clachnacuddin F.C. are a semi-professional senior football club from the city of Inverness who currently play in Scotland's Highland Football League. They have won the most League championships in the competition's history a total of 18 times overall. Their home ground is Grant Street Park in the...

, Rothes

Rothes F.C.

Rothes F.C. are a senior football club who play in the Highland Football League.They were founded in 1938 and play their football at Mackessack Park in Rothes, a small town near Elgin in North East Scotland. They play in tangerine and black strips, colours that they inherited from Dundee United...

 and Forres Mechanics. As late as 2007 the 46 year old Calder even made an appearance in the Scottish Football League

Scottish Football League

The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...

for . He has also returned to Caley Thistle to coach their youth teams.