Daniel Rodger Bruce (21 March 1868 – 4 February 1931) was a Scotland international

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 on the losing side in the

1890 Scottish Cup Final Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 ''Ab urbe c ...

for

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...

and on the winning side in the

1894 FA Cup Final The 1894 FA Cup Final was contested by Notts County and Bolton Wanderers at Goodison Park. Notts County won 4–1, with goals by James Logan (3) and Arthur Watson. Jim Cassidy scored for Bolton. Notts County became the first team from outside ...

for Notts County. He scored 49 goals in 98 appearances 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 ...

playing for Notts County and Small Heath. He played as a left-sided or centre

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

Bruce was born in Bonhill, Dunbartonshire. He played for

, with whom he appeared in the

against Queen's Park. The final as scheduled finished as a 1–1 draw; in the replay, Bruce opened the scoring for Vale of Leven but Queen's came back to win 2–1. Soon afterwards Bruce was capped for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 22 March 1890 against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

; Scotland won 5–0 in what turned out to be only international appearance. He moved to

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 ...

in 1891 and played four games 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 ...

at the start of the 1892–93 season, scoring five goals.Senior Football Players from the Vale of Leven in the 20th Century Bruce, Daniel (Forward, Vale of Leven; senior career late 1880’s – 1890’s).
The Vale of Leven Bruce came to England later that year to join

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

club Notts County. Though relegated at the end of his first season, and failing to win promotion the next despite Bruce's 18-goal contribution, they did become the first

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club to win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. County beat four First Division sides to reach the

; Bruce scored once in the quarter-final, "scraping" a draw against local rivals

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, and twice more in the 4–1 replay win. Bruce had several chances to open the scoring in the final, but was foiled both by the

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and by the woodwork; nevertheless, County went on to win 4–1. In three years with the club, Bruce played 89 league games and scored at better than a goal every two games. In November 1895, Bruce moved to First Division Small Heath. The transfer fee of £100 made him the first player for whom Small Heath had paid a three-figure fee, but he failed to settle. He scored twice in the ten games he played for the club before he returned to Scotland, turning out for Perth and Vale of Leven before signing for St Mirren. Bruce died in 1931 at the age of 62.

Personal life

His younger brother

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

was also a footballer who also played for Vale of Leven and St Mirren, spending most of his career with the latter.

Honours

Vale of Leven *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

Notts County *

winners:

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

References

External links

Scotland profile
at London Hearts Supporters Club {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Daniel 1868 births 1931 deaths People from Bonhill Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Association football forwards Vale of Leven F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Footballers from West Dunbartonshire FA Cup Final players