John Bell Cameron (16 February 1879 – 5 July 1950) was a Scottish international

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 ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He played for St Mirren before joining

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

in 1904. He spent three years at the club before signing for First Division rivals

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. After they were relegated, he helped Chelsea to win promotion out 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 ...

in 1911–12. He signed with non-league

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in 1913, departing the following year, only to return in 1916. He briefly served as the club's manager from August 1918 until his departure in January 1919. He 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

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 ...

in 1903 and 1904, and also represented a

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

three times.

Club career

Cameron played for Kirkwood Thistle and St Mirren, before moving south to partner Bob Crompton at English First Division club

in April 1904. He replaced

Jack Eastham John Bilborough Eastham (1883 – 3 May 1932) was an English association football, footballer who spent most of his career with Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers and then Southampton F.C., Southampton playing as a Defender (association foo ...

as the club's regular left-back, and played 64 league games for the club from 1904 to 1907. He was an ever-present in the 1904–05 season, before he was replaced at left-back by Arthur Cowell by the 1905–06 campaign. He then signed with

for a £900 fee in October 1907, who had won promotion out of the

in 1907, and would be appointed as Chelsea's captain. After maintaining their top-flight status in 1907–08 and 1908–09, the "Pensioners" were relegated in 1909–10. Cameron stayed at the club as they missed out on promotion by one place and two points in 1910–11, before he helped Chelsea to promotion as Second Division runners-up in 1911–12; they finished level on points with champions

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 had a superior goal average. He then helped the club to finish one place above the relegation zone in 1912–13. He played a total of 179 league and 15 cup appearances for Chelsea. He joined

in the summer of 1913. It was a step down in footballing terms, as proved by the opponents of his 1 September debut – Blackburn Rovers Reserves, the game finished 3–3. He played 32 games in

the Central League The Central League is a football league for reserve teams, primarily from the English Football League. For sponsorship purposes, it was branded as the Final Third Development League until the 2015/16 season. The league was formed in 1911 and ...

and helped the club qualify to the

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 ...

first round. He departed at the end of the season, but returned in August 1916. He became the first choice left-back once again in March 1917 and in August 1918 was appointed both the club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and team manager. He largely stopped playing to concentrate on management duties, but was sacked in January 1919, at which point he went into retirement.

International career

Cameron earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

on 26 March 1904, in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

in the 1904 British Home Championship. His second cap came against

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 ...

on 3 April 1909 in the

1909 British Home Championship Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, Scotland lost 2–0. While he was with St Mirren, Cameron represented the

three times.

Career statistics

Club statistics

Source:

International statistics

Honours

Chelsea *

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 ti ...

second-place promotion: 1911–12

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Jock 1879 births 1950 deaths Footballers from Coatbridge Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Association football defenders English Football League players St Mirren F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Scottish football managers Port Vale F.C. managers Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League managers