John McCole (18 September 1936 – 1982) was a Scottish 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 ...

who played in Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales and the United States.

Career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, McCole began his career with

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...

before signing a professional contract with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

in 1956. McCole moved to England in 1958 to play with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

(where he scored 45 goals in 78 league appearances, but was unable to prevent Leeds from being relegated from the First Division; McCole also set a club record by scoring four goals in the League Cup match against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

before returning to Bradford in October 1961) and

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, before spending a year in Ireland with Shelbourne. McCole returned to Britain to play for Newport County – a Welsh team playing in the English league – before returning to Ireland to play with

Cork Hibernians Cork Hibernians F.C. were an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1957 and 1976 and, from 1962, played their home games at Flower Lodge. In 1971, they were League of Ireland champions. History The ...

and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. McCole also spent the summer of 1961 in the United States with the New York Americans, scoring seven goals in the process.

References

External links

*
Profile at LeedsFans,org
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCole, John 1936 births 1982 deaths Scottish footballers League of Ireland players Falkirk F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Cork Hibernians F.C. players Footballers from Glasgow Association football forwards Vale of Leven F.C. players Date of death missing Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland