Andrew John Smith Greig (19 October 1893 – after 1925) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a goalkeeper in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

for Aberdeen and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

either side of the First World War. He also played for Mugiemoss, Raith Rovers (on loan), Shildon, Peterhead and Montrose. He was deaf.

Life and career

Greig was born in Aberdeen, and played Junior football with Mugiemoss before beginning his senior career with

Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...

After playing for the reserve team during the 1910–11 season, he made his first-team debut on 25 September 1911, keeping a clean sheet as Aberdeen beat Queen's Park 3–0. The ''

Scotsman The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...

'' reported that "Greig appeared in goal for the home team, and got an encouraging reception, which ultimate events proved to be well deserved." He played 22 times in the

1911–12 Scottish Division One The 1911–12 Scottish Division One season was won by Rangers by six points over nearest rival Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anat ...

season, fewer in the next, before returning to first-team duties on a regular basis in 1913–14. He remained with the club, appearing infrequently, until the end of the 1916–17 season, when Aberdeen withdrew from the league because of the First World War. He finished his Aberdeen career with 80 appearances in league competition and 7 in the Scottish Cup. He played

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

to Raith Rovers during the war. Greig was one of numerous players recruited by English club Darlington Forge Albion, which was established to represent the town of

in the 1919 Northern Victory League after Darlington F.C. had folded during the war. He was ever-present in that competition, and remained with the club as they adopted the Darlington F.C. name and its place in the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

. He played in the defeat of First Division club Sheffield Wednesday in the

1919–20 FA Cup The 1919–20 FA Cup was the 45th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup), and the first since the cancellation of all football competitions due to t ...

, in front of 52,388 spectators at

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

– the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' reported that Greig was "tested with all manner of shots, but always emerged triumphant", and that he and his full-backs were "as sound a defence as one could wish for". He contributed to the team's North Eastern League title the following year, which confirmed the club's invitation to join the new Football League Third Division North. He made his debut in the Football League on 5 November 1921 in a 3–0 defeat of

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

, and retained his place, keeping John Ward out of the team, until April 1922 when he broke his arm during a match. He regained his regular starting place for the next two seasons, taking his appearance totals to 95 Football League matches and 20 in the FA Cup, but the club's financial problems meant they had to let players leave, and Greig spent time with Shildon before returning to Scotland where he played for Peterhead and Montrose.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greig, Andy 1893 births Year of death missing Footballers from Aberdeen Scottish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Dyce F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Shildon A.F.C. players Peterhead F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Place of death missing Deaf association football players Scottish deaf people