Professional Footballer. He gained fame as a 19th-century Scottish football player. He was a half-back in the Preston North End Football Team who became known as "The Invincibles" after they won the inaugural Football League competition in 1888 to1889, completing the season without a goal being scored against it in both the League and the FA Cup, so becoming the first team ever to achieve the "Double." A quarryman by trade who was described as having "a burly physique," he built on an early career at the Ayrshire team, Annbank, and was one of the many Scottish-born footballers who joined Preston North End in the mid-1880s as the Lancashire club assembled a side that was almost unbeatable. He soon built up a reputation for toughness, consistency, and reliability and enjoyed a spectacular but short career. His one and only appearance for Scotland was in Scotland's first–ever British Home Championship match played on January 26, 1884 against Ireland, where Scotland won 5–0. He played in the 1888 FA Cup Final against West Bromwich Albion, having already made history when he scored as part of the record-breaking P.N.E. team who, on October 15, 1887, beat the Hyde (Manchester) side 26-0. He played in the side, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 to retain the F.A. Cup title in 1998. He was the veteran of the P.N.E. side at 32 when they became unbeaten Football League Champions and F.A. Cup Winners. In the following year,1890, he suffered a serious injury during a game, shattering his collarbone, but, true to form, he insisted on playing to the end of the game. After his football career, he became a coal miner and died on his 70th birthday.
Professional Footballer. He gained fame as a 19th-century Scottish football player. He was a half-back in the Preston North End Football Team who became known as "The Invincibles" after they won the inaugural Football League competition in 1888 to1889, completing the season without a goal being scored against it in both the League and the FA Cup, so becoming the first team ever to achieve the "Double." A quarryman by trade who was described as having "a burly physique," he built on an early career at the Ayrshire team, Annbank, and was one of the many Scottish-born footballers who joined Preston North End in the mid-1880s as the Lancashire club assembled a side that was almost unbeatable. He soon built up a reputation for toughness, consistency, and reliability and enjoyed a spectacular but short career. His one and only appearance for Scotland was in Scotland's first–ever British Home Championship match played on January 26, 1884 against Ireland, where Scotland won 5–0. He played in the 1888 FA Cup Final against West Bromwich Albion, having already made history when he scored as part of the record-breaking P.N.E. team who, on October 15, 1887, beat the Hyde (Manchester) side 26-0. He played in the side, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 to retain the F.A. Cup title in 1998. He was the veteran of the P.N.E. side at 32 when they became unbeaten Football League Champions and F.A. Cup Winners. In the following year,1890, he suffered a serious injury during a game, shattering his collarbone, but, true to form, he insisted on playing to the end of the game. After his football career, he became a coal miner and died on his 70th birthday.
Bio by: Turnpike
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