John McGuire (born 29 March 1902, date of death unknown) was an English professional footballer who played for four different

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

clubs. Primarily 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 ...

, he could also play as an inside forward and was occasionally used at left-half. Born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, he began his career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with

Northern Football League The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Division ...

side

Darlington Railway Athletic Darlington Railway Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Darlington, England. They are currently members of the and play at Brinkburn Road. History The club was formed after World War I and initially played in the Darlington & Dist ...

. He later had a spell with Cockfield before joining Football League Third Division South club Charlton Athletic in August 1925. In his first season with the London club he made six league appearances as the team finished 21st in the division and were forced to apply for re-election. McGuire moved to the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

in November 1926 when he signed for Wigan Borough. In what was to be the most prolific goalscoring period of his career, he netted 13 goals in 33 league matches for the Springfield Park club in a 13-month spell. Four months into the 1927–28 season, McGuire transferred to struggling Nelson on a free transfer. He made his debut for Nelson in the 1–5 defeat to Ashington at Seedhill on 3 December 1927. The following game, he scored his first goal for his new side in the 2–4 away loss at his former club Wigan Borough. McGuire went on to make a total of 20 league appearances for Nelson, but scored only once more. The team finished bottom of the Third Division North at the end of the campaign, and while their re-election application was successful several players, including McGuire, left the club in the summer of 1928. In July 1928, McGuire signed for his hometown club,

. He spent two seasons at

Feethams Feethams is a cricket and former football grounds in Darlington, England. The cricket ground has hosted Durham CCC matches. The football ground was the home of Darlington F.C. for from 1883 to 2003 until the club moved into another ground, ...

, during which time he played 42 league matches and scored 7 goals before retiring from professional football at the end of the 1929–30 campaign.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcguire, John 1902 births Year of death missing Footballers from Darlington English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Darlington Railway Athletic F.C. players Cockfield F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Wigan Borough F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Darlington F.C. players English Football League players