Robert Reid (19 February 1911 – 16 November 1987) 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 lea ...

who played at both professional and international levels as an

outside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. His best remembered for his time in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, for whom he made 110 appearances. Reid earned the nickname " the Flying Scotsman" for his performances down the wing for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

early in his career.

Club career

Reid began his career in his native

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

with

and played for the club in the 1935 Scottish Cup Final. He moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in January 1936 to reunite with friend David McCulloch at First Division club

. A spell out following an

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

operation in 1936 allowed

Les Smith Keith Leslie Smith is a former English keyboardist, once in the bands Anathema (1996, 2001–2011) and Cradle of Filth (1998–2000). Biography He was born in 1967 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England. Smith undertook session work on keyboards ...

into the team, with whom Reid would battle for a place through the rest of his Bees career. During his three years at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

, he was among the club's leading scorers, behind David McCulloch. Reid joined

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

for a £6,000 fee in February 1939 and with his time at the club being affected by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he made just 14 league appearances, scoring four goals, before his departure after the war in November 1946. Reid next spent a season with Bury, scoring 1 goal in 17 league appearances, before ending his career with a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

spell at Third Lanark.

International and representative career

Reid won two caps for

during the 1937–38 season. He also made two appearances for the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

Post-playing career

Reid served Bury, Third Lanark, Airdrieonians and former club Hamilton Academical as a

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

, arriving back at Douglas Park in the late 1960s. By the time of his death in November 1987, Reid was still with the Accies, working also as

kit man An equipment manager is responsible for the procurement, maintenance, repair, inventory, transportation, storage, cleaning, and disposal of equipment used by a business or organization. They ensure that appropriate equipment is available and func ...

Career statistics

Honours

Hamilton Academical *

Lanarkshire Cup The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. The Lanarkshire FA was dissolved in June 1999 when it was merged with the Ayrshire and Renfrewshire FAs to form the Wes ...

: 1933–34, 1938–39 * Southern Counties Cup: 1933–34, 1934–35 Individual *

PFA Scotland The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repl ...

Merit Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Bobby 1911 births 1987 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Hamilton Academical F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Men's association football outside forwards Scottish Football League representative players Hamilton Academical F.C. non-playing staff Bury F.C. non-playing staff Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) non-playing staff Third Lanark A.C. non-playing staff Third Lanark A.C. players Footballers from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Stranraer F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. wartime guest players Ayr United F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century Scottish sportsmen