John Brown "Joe" Caven (11 October 1936 – 13 August 2023) was a Scottish

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 ...

, best known for playing with

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

and

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

in 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 ...

. He was a

centre 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 ...

. Born in

Kirkintilloch Kirkintilloch (; sco, Kirkintulloch; gd, Cair Cheann Tulaich) is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about northeast of central Glasgow. ...

, Caven also played for Airdrie,

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

, Greenock Morton, and

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

, with a short time in South Africa playing for

Addington Addington may refer to: Places In Australia: * Addington, Victoria In Canada: * Addington, Ontario * Addington County, Ontario (now Lennox and Addington County, Ontario) * Addington Highlands, Ontario * Addington Parish, New Brunswick * Adding ...

and Germiston Callies. Having been given a free transfer by Raith Rovers at the end of the 1962–63 season, in July 1963, Caven signed for Inverness Caledonian, a Highland Football League club at that time, on the basis that if a

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wh ...

club came along for him he would be released from his contract by Inverness Caledonian. Within weeks after signing for Inverness Caledonian, Greenock Morton signed Caven and therefore he never appeared for Inverness Caledonian in the Highland Football League. Caven later lived in

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...

, near

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, in the North of Scotland. Caven died in 13 August 2023, at the age of 86.

External links

References

1936 births 2023 deaths Sportspeople from Kirkintilloch Footballers from East Dunbartonshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Scottish expatriate men's footballers Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Addington F.C. players National Football League (South Africa) players Germiston Callies F.C. players {{Scotland-footy-forward-1930s-stub