John Buchanan (born 19 September 1951) is a Scottish former professional

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 ...

and manager. During his career he played for Ross County,

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

, developing a reputation as a goalscoring midfielder.

Career

Buchanan was playing in the

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system The Scottish football league syst ...

for Ross County when he joined

in 1970. He soon established himself in the first team and eventually moved to

in October 1974 in exchange for John Farrington, making his debut in a 3–2 victory over

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. Cardiff were relegated in his first year at the club but bounced back up to the division the following season. Despite Buchanan being a midfielder he topped the club's scoring charts in two of his seven seasons with his impressive scoring record, his highest being a total of sixteen during the 1978–79 season including his only hattrick for Cardiff, during a 4–0 win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. During his time at Cardiff, Buchanan was once arrested during a match. After watching Cardiff players

Keith Pontin Keith Pontin (14 June 1956 – 2 August 2020) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a central defender. Pontin began his career with Cardiff City, making nearly 200 league appearances and earning two caps for the Welsh national team. ...

and

Phil Dwyer Philip John Dwyer (28 October 1953 – 30 November 2021) was a Welsh professional Association football, footballer. Born in Cardiff, he began his career with his hometown club Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City, joining the side as an apprentice ...

receive red cards in the same incident Buchanan, himself suspended and watching the match from the stands, attempted to get on the pitch to voice his opinion to the referee only to be confronted by police. He left

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

in 1981 to return to Northampton where he finished his career. Buchanan later returned to the Highland League with Ross County as manager followed by a spell with Highland League neighbours, Brora Rangers Before playing football professionally he played

shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...

for

Caberfeidh Caberfeidh Camanachd Club is a shinty team based in Strathpeffer, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. Consisting of two teams, Caberfeidh currently play in the Marine Harvest Premiership having been promoted from the National Division after the 2017 ...

After retirement

Buchanan currently works as a

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

in his hometown Dingwall.

Honours

;Cardiff City *

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

runner-up: 1974–75, 1976–77 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

runner-up: 1975–76

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, John 1951 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Scottish football managers Ross County F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players English Football League players Ross County F.C. managers Sportspeople from Dingwall Shinty players Footballers from Highland (council area) Men's association football midfielders Highland Football League managers