William Ribchester (28 July 1898 – 23 February 1986) 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 an outside right. The son of a Lancastrian schoolmaster who relocated to

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

, Ribchester began his senior career with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in 1916, making two

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 ...

appearances as an 18-year-old filling in for the injured Andy McAtee.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was already underway, and having already been a member of the Officers' Training Corps he was soon called into active duty, serving as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

with the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

and being wounded at

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

in August 1918. He was able to resume playing football when the conflict ended, though he could not break into the Celtic team and moved on to

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

, playing in the

1920 Scottish Cup Final The 1919–20 Scottish Cup was the 42nd staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Kilmarnock who defeated Albion Rovers in the final.Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

,Is It Really So Strange?
Shaughan McGuigan, Tell Him He's Pele, 6 March 2014 at the end of his first of three seasons in Coatbridge. He later played for

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

(initially on loan), being an almost constant presence in the side that won the

1923–24 Scottish Division Two The 1923–24 Scottish Division Two was won by St Johnstone who, along with second placed Cowdenbeath, were promoted to Division One. Vale of Leven and Lochgelly United finished 19th and 20th respectively and were relegated to Division Three. T ...

title, though he played little in the following campaign (the club's first at Muirton Park) and was loaned back to the lower tier with Dunfermline Athletic, before ending his career with Armadale. Ribchester was later also a school teacher like his father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ribchester, Bill 1898 births 1986 deaths Scottish footballers Scottish people of English descent People from Govan Footballers from Glasgow People educated at St Mungo's Academy Benburb F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Parkhead F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Armadale F.C. players Association football outside forwards Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players British Army personnel of World War I Machine Gun Corps officers