John McCormick (18 July 1936 – 2 July 2017) 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 ...

. Playing as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

he made a total of 334 appearances in the Football League and

Scottish 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 sout ...

, for

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

before moving into non-league football with

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

Playing career

Third Lanark

He began his senior career at

, in 1959 to 1965 and helped his hometown club to a third-placed finish in the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

in 1961. In the close season of 1964 he moved to

after 190 appearances for Lanark, but without scoring.

Aberdeen

McCormick spent two seasons at

making 28 appearances without scoring, before moving to England with teammate Tom White to play for

Crystal Palace

Palace

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Bert Head paid just £1,500 for McCormick's services, on 30 May 1966. White had been Head's main target but it was McCormick, after initially understudying Alan Stephenson, who helped the club to its promotion to the First Division for the first time in 1968–69. In that season, McCormick was ever present making 42 appearances and scoring 3 times. In the top flight he formed a solid defensive partnership with fellow centre-half Mel Blyth and won Palace's first ever "''

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

''" award at the end of the 1971-72 season. He was awarded a testimonial during the next season.

Wealdstone

During the early part of the 1972–73 season McCormick lost his place, which was taken by

Bobby Bell Bobby Lee Bell Sr. (born June 17, 1940) is an American former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker and defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the College Football ...

, and was subsequently allowed to leave on a free transfer. He joined

, then managed by former Palace colleague

Eddie Presland Edward Robert Presland (27 March 1943 – 1 August 2021) was an English footballer who played as a defender in England for West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Colchester United, Chelmsford City and Wealdstone and for Jewish Guild in South Africa. ...

, and helped the club to win the Southern League division one south in 1973–74. McCormick owned a hotel near Glasgow for 25 years. He lived in

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. He died on 2 July 2017 at the age of 80.What a terrific centre-back he was' - Palace fans pay tribute to star of 1969 team John McCormick after passing away
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, John 1936 births 2017 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Third Lanark A.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Men's association football central defenders St Roch's F.C. players Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Junior Football Association players Place of death missing