Donald Greenlees (born 14 January 1875) was a Scottish professional

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 half-back for St Mirren in Scotland and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in England around the turn of the 20th century.

Football career

Born in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Greenlees started his professional career with nearby St Mirren where he gained a reputation as "''one of the best half-backs in Scotland''". In May 1899, Greenlees moved to

southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes G ...

to join Southern League champions

. He made his debut for the ''Saints'' at The Dell, taking the place of

Samuel Meston Samuel Meston (16 January 1872 – 14 August 1948) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke and Southampton. Whilst with Southampton, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals and won six Southern League championship ...

right-half A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for a 5–1 victory over Queens Park Rangers on 21 October 1899. Greenlees was never able to command a regular place in the Southampton line-up and was used as an understudy for fellow Scots Meston, Peter Meehan and

Bob Petrie Robert Petrie (25 October 1874 – 1947) was a professional Association football, footballer who won the FA Cup with Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday in FA Cup Final 1896, 1896 and was on the losing side in the FA Cup Final 1900, 19 ...

, making a total of eight appearances. After one season on the south coast, Greenlees rejoined St Mirren F.C., St Mirren in the 1900 close-season, resuming what became a long-running half-back partnership with Michael McAvoy and Walter Bruce (the latter gradually replaced by Robert Robertson). By the time of his departure in 1907, Greenlees had made well over 200 appearances for the Paisley club in the major competitions; he then had a short spell with regional rivals

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

. He returned to

in 1908 and settled in the

Shirley Warren Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

area of the town. Greenlees represented the Scottish League once, in 1904.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenlees, Don 1875 births Year of death missing Footballers from Glasgow People from Bridgeton, Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Southampton F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish Football League players Southern Football League players Scottish Football League representative players