Adam Scott Mathieson Duncan (2 November 1888 – 3 October 1976) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager, who played as an outside right. He made over 100 appearances for

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

, played in England for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, winning the Football League title in 1908–09. He also had three spells with Dumbarton, and played for Cowdenbeath and guested for

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. As a manager, he led Hamilton Academical and Cowdenbeath before going to England, where he managed

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and then Ipswich Town, the latter for 18 years.

Career

Playing career

Born in Dumbarton, Duncan was working as a law clerk when he joined his home-town club Dumbarton in 1906. He moved to

in March 1908 for a fee of £200. A versatile forward, although primarily an outside-right, he scored 12 times in 81 league games for the Magpies and was a member of the 1908–09 English Football League championship winning side. In May 1913, he returned to Scotland, moving to

for a fee of £750. He remained with Rangers during World War I, in which he served as a signalling instructor in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

. He also played two wartime games for

. In 1918 he rejoined Dumbarton and in the 1920 close season signed for Cowdenbeath. In 1922 he rejoined Dumbarton for a third time, but retired at the end of the 1922–23 season.

Managerial and coaching career

Duncan was appointed as secretary-manager of Hamilton Academical in the summer of 1923. He left in October 1925 to take over as secretary-manager of Cowdenbeath and had seven successful years at the club, keeping them in the Scottish First Division throughout his time in charge. In June 1932 he was appointed as secretary-manager of

. Despite spending a lot of money on players, United were almost relegated to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in the 1933–34 season. However, Duncan turned things around and led United to the Second Division championship in the 1935–36 season. However, they were relegated the following season and, in November 1937, he resigned to become manager of Ipswich Town, who were then a Southern League side. At the end of the 1938–39 season Ipswich were elected into the English Football League despite finishing third in the Southern League. Duncan remained with Ipswich Town as manager for 18 years, winning the Third Division (South) title in the 1953–54 season. However, Town were relegated the following season and Duncan stood down as manager in August 1955 season when

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he represented the England national team and captained the side, but he is best known for his time as England manager fr ...

took over. He remained as secretary for three further years. He was honoured with a testimonial match at the end of the 1957–58 season against Norwich City at Portman Road, which Ipswich won 3–1. He returned to live in Scotland in his retirement until his death in 1976, at the age of 87.

Honours

As a player

;Newcastle United * First Division: 1908–09 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

As a manager

;Manchester United * Second Division: 1935–36 ;Ipswich Town * Division Three South: 1953–54

Managerial statistics

References

External links

*
Manager's profile
at Pride of Anglia (fansite) {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Scott 1888 births 1975 deaths Scottish footballers Dumbarton F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Celtic F.C. wartime guest players Scottish football managers Hamilton Academical F.C. managers Cowdenbeath F.C. managers Manchester United F.C. managers Ipswich Town F.C. managers Scottish soldiers Royal Field Artillery soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Scottish Football League managers Sportspeople from Dumbarton Footballers from West Dunbartonshire Association football outside forwards Clydebank Juniors F.C. players Glasgow United F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players