John Gilfillan (29 September 1898 – 1976) was a Scottish-born

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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

in the 1920s and 1930s, notably with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. He joined Heart of Midlothian from his local team Inverkeithing United, and played for Hearts in a

1922–23 Scottish Cup The 1922–23 Scottish Cup was the 45th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football (soccer), football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Celtic F.C., Celtic, who defeated Hibernian F.C., Hibernian 1–0 in the final. Fourth round S ...

tie against

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Falki ...

. He was later loaned to East Fife, and played for them in the 1927 Scottish Cup Final against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

.Jock Gilfillan
London Hearts Supporters Club Gilfillan moved to play in England with Portsmouth of

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 ...

in December 1928. He was to go on to make 359 senior appearances with the south coast club, including playing for them in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

s of

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. In his nine seasons with the club he kept 107 clean sheets in 330 League matches. In April 2009, he was included in a

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specific ...

list of the Top 50 Portsmouth players of all time, and was described as being ''"one of the finest keepers in the club’s history with excellent positioning and agility the key to his success."''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilfillan, Jock 1898 births 1976 deaths Footballers from Fife Men's association football goalkeepers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Inverkeithing United F.C. players Scottish men's footballers