John Bain BEM (1923 – 2019) was a 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 ...

player, manager and chairman for Ferranti Thistle and Meadowbank Thistle (the predecessor clubs of

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

Club career

Bain left the

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in 1952 to become a planning engineer with high-tech firm Ferranti in his home city of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He joined the company’s football team Ferranti Thistle and starred as a left-back. He played until he was 40, and was convinced to take over as manager. He then became chairman for 15 years before being convinced to step back in as manager when the club was renamed Meadowbank Thistle and joined 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 ...

in 1974. Bain remained involved with the team, which changed its name in 1995 to accompany a relocation to

Almondvale Stadium Almondvale Stadium, also known as the Tony Macaroni Arena for sponsorship purposes, but most commonly referred to as ‘The Spaghettihad’ (alluding to the Etihad Stadium), is a football stadium, located in the Almondvale area of Livingston, We ...

Livingston, West Lothian Livingston ( sco, Leivinstoun, gd, Baile Dhunlèibhe) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from a village of the same name incorporated ...

, as the team’s honorary vice-president.

Personal life

After retirement in 1980, Bain was awarded a British Empire Medal for his involvement in Scottish football. He died in 2019.

Honours

Ferranti Thistle *

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cup w ...

: 1962–63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bain, John 1923 births Date of birth missing 2019 deaths Date of death missing Scottish footballers Footballers from Edinburgh Association football defenders Livingston F.C. players Scottish football managers Livingston F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers Portsmouth F.C. players Reading F.C. players Recipients of the British Empire Medal