John William Angus (1 December 1868 –1933) 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 an
outside 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 ...
for
Everton during the inaugural
English 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 Engl ...
season,
1888/89. He later appeared as a
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 ...
in
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 ...
's
inaugural season in the
Southern League, 1894/95.
Football career
Born in
Blythswood Hill
Blythswood Hill, crowned by the elegance of Blythswood Square, is the wealthiest part of central Glasgow, Scotland. It extends from the west edge of Buchanan Street to Gordon Street and Bothwell Street, Charing Cross, Sauchiehall Street a ...
,
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 ...
, he started his career at
Third Lanark
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...
, before joining English side
Everton in 1888. Angus's Everton debut came on 22 December 1888, in a 3–0 reverse at
Preston after an injury ruled out first choice Tom Costley. Angus would start in the following four Everton fixtures, only appearing on the winning side once, in a 2–1 home win over
Stoke
Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom.
Stoke may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below.
Berkshire
* Stoke Row, Berkshire
Bristol
* Stoke Bishop
* Stok ...
at Anfield.
After failing to establish himself at Everton, Angus travelled up the East Lancs Road to sign for
Ardwick
Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250.
Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from ...
(later
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 ...
) in March 1892. The
1892–93 season was Ardwick's first 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 ...
, and Angus scored in the club's first ever League match, a 7–0 win against
Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Histo ...
. Overall, he scored three league goals from seven appearances for the Manchester club. Angus then moved to the south coast to join
Southampton St Mary's in the summer of 1893.
Angus was one of the first professional players signed by Southampton. He played in the Saints' two
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 ...
qualifying matches in November 1893 as well as friendlies and local cup matches. Described by Holley & Chalk as "a deft and aggressive forward", he was the first Saints player to be
sent off
In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
for an "over zealous" tackle in a Hampshire Senior Cup match on 24 February 1894 against local rivals
Freemantle
Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England.
There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...
.
In
1894 Southampton were founder members of the
Southern League and Angus played at
inside forward
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 ...
, in a forward line-up including
Charles Baker,
Fred Hollands
Frederick George Hollands (3 October 1870 – 1948) as an English professional footballer who played as an outside-forward for Millwall Athletic and Southampton St Mary's in the 1890s.
Football career
Hollands was born in Poplar in the Eas ...
,
Harry Offer and
Herbert Ward
Herbert may refer to:
People Individuals
* Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert
Name
* Herbert (given name)
* Herbert (surname)
Places Antarctica
* Herbert Mountains, Coats Land
* Herbert Sound, Graham Land
Australia
* Herbert, ...
. He scored in the "Saints"' first game in the Southern League and went on to score six goals that season, making him joint top scorer.
The following season, he made three more league appearances before leaving the club in November 1895. In all he made 23 appearances for the Saints, scoring 11 goals. He subsequently played for
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, but little is known about his later life.
Not to be confused with
John Alexander Angus, a Scottish goalkeeper who made 11 appearances for Everton during the
1890/91 season, Everton's first championship winning campaign.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angus, Jack
1868 births
Footballers from Glasgow
1933 deaths
Scottish men's footballers
Everton F.C. players
Manchester City F.C. players
Southampton F.C. players
Fulham F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
Southern Football League players
English Football League players
Third Lanark A.C. players
Men's association football forwards
Date of death missing