James Galloway was born in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1900. He emigrated to Canada at the age of 18 in 1919.

The inside forward starred for the Toronto All-Scots in the Inter-City League in the early 1920’s. On June 27 1925 Jimmy played for Canada in their international game against the United States in Montreal. While playing for the All-Scots he had received several offers from the leading American clubs and from Millwall F.C. in England.

Jimmy signed for the Boston Wonder Workers in September 1925. He was described by the New York Evening Post as having “rare judgment and a great shot”. Jimmy returned to Toronto for Ulster United’s first season in the new National Soccer League in 1926.

In 1927 he had a spell with the Detroit Celtics as his brother Billy had been playing in Detroit for many years. He returned to Ulster United for the 1927 National Soccer League season.

On October 1, 1927 Jimmy scored two goals to help Ulster United defeat Kirkland Lake 7-2 in the Ontario Cup final. He helped Ulster United to another Ontario Cup victory in 1929 when they defeated Hamilton City in the finals.

Jimmy played for Kodak Park in the Rochester Inter-City League in the 1935-36 season. He returned to Canada and played for England United in the National Soccer League from 1936 to 1940.