Ian Samuel White (born 20 December 1935) is a Scottish former

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 ...

who played as a half-back for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

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 the 1950s and 1960s. His career started in his home city of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

with Celtic, where he failed to break through into the first team, before moving to England to join Leicester City in 1958, followed by five years at Southampton, before dropping down to non-league football.

Football career

White was born in

and played his youth football with Port Glasgow Hibs before joining Scottish Junior club St Anthony's in 1954, followed by a move to fellow Junior club Petershill in 1955. Having played as a junior international for Scotland, he signed for Celtic in April 1956. He failed to make Celtic's first team in his two years at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

and in May 1958, he moved to England to join

of the Football League First Division. He had to wait until 7 November 1959 before he made his first-team debut when he took the place of Johnny Newman at

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 the match against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

, which was won 2–0. White retained his place until mid-February, when he was replaced by

Frank McLintock Francis McLintock MBE (born 28 December 1939) is a former Scotland international footballer, football manager and businessman. He also worked as a sports agent and football pundit in his later life. He began his career in Scottish Junior footb ...

. Over the next few seasons, White was in-and-out of the side, with few opportunities to establish himself in the side resulting in a move to the south coast in the summer of 1962, having made a total of 54 appearances for the "Foxes". He was transferred to

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 ...

for a fee of £15,000 in June 1962, where he was re-united with

Tony Knapp Anthony Knapp (born 13 October 1936 in Newstead, Nottinghamshire) is an English former footballer, a notable defender in the English football league in the 1960s. Career He was training with Nottingham Forest before becoming professional, as ...

who had played alongside him at

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

at Leicester City until a transfer to Southampton in August 1961. White made his debut for the "Saints" in the opening match of the 1962–63 season at right-half with Knapp at centre-half, a 2–1 defeat at Scunthorpe United. White played in eight of the first ten matches of the season, before losing out to Ken Wimshurst, although he did play three further matches, on the left, in April. In the next season, he and Wimshurst both had long runs at No.4, with White also making 11 appearances further forward at

inside-left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

as manager Ted Bates attempted to build a side to gain promotion. In the event, the Saints finished fifth, their highest position since 1950, having scored 100 goals, yet conceding 73. In the next two seasons, White made only occasional appearances, including the final ten matches of the 1965–66 season, when Southampton finished as runners-up to Manchester United to gain promotion to the First Division for the first time. In Southampton's first season in the top flight, White played in the first five matches, before again losing his place to Wimshurst, after which he made only three further appearances for the Saints. Following the signing of fellow-Scotsman Hugh Fisher in March 1967, White was released in the summer of 1967.

Future career

After leaving Southampton, White spent a season with Hillingdon Borough in the Southern League, before a broken ankle ended his full-time playing career. He then joined Portals Athletic as player-manager becoming general manager in 1973, before a spell as manager at Swaythling Athletic. White settled in the

area, initially running a sports shop in Totton, before setting up a graphic design business in Romsey.

Honours

;Southampton *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

runners-up: 1965–66

References

External links

Career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Ian 1935 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Men's association football wing halves St Anthony's F.C. players Petershill F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Hillingdon Borough F.C. players Portals Athletic F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. managers Scottish football managers Scottish Junior Football Association players