David Weir (29 August 1863 – 1 December 1933) was an English

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 for several clubs in the 19th century, including

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 ...

and Ardwick (

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

), and won two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Playing career

Club career

In the infancy of professional football, Weir played for a number of teams, and he learned his footballing skills at Hampton,

Thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...

, Maybole and

Halliwell Halliwell is a surname. It may refer to: People * Bryn Halliwell (born 1980), English football goalkeeper * Danny Halliwell (born 1981), rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s * David Halliwell (1936–2006), British dramatis ...

. He then signed for

in June 1888. Davie Weir made his Club & League debut on 8 September 1888, as a centre-half, at

Pike's Lane Pike's Lane was a football ground in Bolton, England. It was the home ground of Bolton Wanderers between 1880 and 1895, and the venue of the first goal scored in league football anywhere in the world. History Pike's Lane opened in 1880, with the ...

, then home of Bolton Wanderers. The opposition was

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

who won the match 6–3. Davie Weir scored his debut League goal on 22 September 1888, playing at centre-half, at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, the home of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. The home side won 3–1 and Davie Weir scored Bolton Wanderers solitary goal. Davie Weir played in all 22 League games played by Bolton Wanderers in season 1888–89. Davie Weir was one of five Bolton Wanderers players, who, in season 1888–89 played in every (22) League game. The other four, apart from Weir, were, James Brogan,

Kenny Davenport James Kenyon "Kenny" Davenport (23 March 1862 – 27 September 1908) was an English international footballer who played as an inside right. Career Born in the Deane area of Bolton, Davenport played for Bolton Wanderers, after joining them ...

John Milne John Milne (30 December 1850 – 31 July 1913) was a British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph. Biography Milne was born in Liverpool, England, the only child of John Milne of Milnrow, and at first raised in ...

and

Bob Roberts ''Bob Roberts'' is a 1992 American Satire, satirical mockumentary film written, directed by, and starring Tim Robbins. It depicts the rise of Robert "Bob" Roberts Jr., a right-wing politician who is a candidate for an upcoming United States Senat ...

. Davie Weir scored two League goals, both in the same match. As a centre-half (six appearances) Davie Weir played in a Bolton Wanderers defence that conceded one-League-goal-in-a-match once. As a wing-half/winger (eight appearances) he played in a Bolton Wanderers midfield that achieved big (three-League-goals-or-more) wins by on two occasions. As a forward (eight appearances) he played in a Bolton Wanderers front-line that scored three-League-goals-or-more on three occasions. (registration & fee required) Weir played in a number of positions. In his first spell at Bolton he was renowned for his ability as a centre-half, yet scored 31 times in two seasons. In an

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 ...

tie against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on 1 February 1890, Weir scored four goals in a 13–0 rout, with a further five goals coming from Jim Cassidy. In May 1890 he joined Ardwick, the predecessor of

. The transfer was viewed as an unusual move as Ardwick were not a League club at that time, and did not join the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

until 1891. At Ardwick, Weir played primarily as a forward. On 4 October 1890, he scored the club's first ever

goal, part of a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. Retaining the services of a player with the standing of Weir was costly for a fledgling club such as Ardwick; in the 1891–92 season the club hosted a benefit match against a representative team of internationals to raise money for him. In 1892, Ardwick joined the Football League as founder members of the

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 ...

. Weir was the club's top goalscorer in their first League season, scoring eight goals in 14 appearances. In January 1893, he returned to Bolton Wanderers where he made a further 45 appearances over three seasons.

International career

His performances for Bolton resulted in international recognition; he made his England debut on 2 March 1889, a 6–1 win against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He gained a second cap a month later in a 3–2 defeat to

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 ...

. Some observers credited him with England's second goal, which was officially recorded as a

Billy Bassett William Isiah Bassett (27 January 1869 – 8 April 1937) was an English association footballer, director, and club chairman who served West Bromwich Albion for over half a century. Biography Playing career Born in West Bromwich, the eldest of ...

goal.

Managerial career

After his playing career, Weir had a brief period in football management, managing

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

between 1909 and 1911.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, David 1863 births 1933 deaths Sportspeople from Aldershot English footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football utility players Thistle F.C. players Halliwell F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players English football managers Glossop North End A.F.C. managers Stuttgarter Kickers managers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football wing halves Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Footballers from Hampshire English expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Germany English expatriate sportspeople in Germany Maybole Juniors F.C. players