John Campbell Rattray (14 October 1890 – 1958) was an early twentieth-century Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

inside forward who played professionally in Scotland and the United States.

Playing career

Scotland

Rattray was born in Lumphinnans,

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Scotland. In February 1910 he began his professional career with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

of 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 ...

First Division. He spent two full seasons at Falkirk before transferring to Raith Rovers in 1913, but his career was interrupted, along with so many others, by the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Rattray served along with other footballers in McCrae's Battalion of the Royal Scots during the war, not returning to football until January 1919 when he signed with Dumbarton. He then moved back to Raith Rovers for three more years. In recognition of his service to the

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

club he was awarded a benefit match, which was played against a Fifeshire Select on 4 January 1921.

United States

In 1922, Rattray left Scotland to sign with the Bethlehem Steel of the American Soccer League. His last game with the team came in the final of the

1924 American Cup The 1924 American Cup was the annual open cup held by the American Football Association. American Cup Bracket ''Home teams listed on top of bracket'' (*): replay after tied match Final See also *1924 National Challenge Cup Nineteen or 19 ...

. He was not slated to start the game, but was written in to fill in for an injured teammate. His selection paid dividends when he scored the game's only goal, giving Steel its sixth

American Cup The American Cup (also known as the American Football Association Cup and the American Federation Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1885. In the 1910s, it gradually dec ...

title. At the time it was said of him: Rattray retired following the 1923–1924 season, returning to Scotland where he settled in Cowdenbeath.

Coaching career

In 1928 he went for two years to Belgium as coach for second division team TSV Lyra.

Honours

;Bethlehem Steel *

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

* American Soccer League Runners-up: 1923–24

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rattray, Jock 1890 births 1958 deaths American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907–1930) players British Army personnel of World War I Dumbarton F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players People from Lumphinnans Raith Rovers F.C. players Scottish footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate football managers McCrae's Battalion Association football inside forwards Association football wing halves Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Belgium K. Lyra managers Expatriate soccer managers in the United States American Soccer League (1921–1933) coaches Footballers from Fife