John Kay McTavish (7 June 1885 – 4 April 1944) was a Scottish footballer who played for several clubs including

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 ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

and

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

, and for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at international level.Scotland player John Kay McTavish
London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 23 June 2009

Club career

McTavish began his career at the

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 ...

junior side Petershill before joining

in 1905, being a part of the team which finished runners-up in

Scottish Division One 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 ...

twice (the 1907–08 and 1909–10 seasons). In summer 1910, he joined

and played 10 matches at

Boundary Park Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively. Bound ...

before signing for

by the end of the same year. The

inside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

featured in 40 games and scored twice in all competitions for the ''Lilywhites'' between December 1910 and April 1912, when he left

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

to join

where he made a further 34 appearances and scored six goals. He went on have spells at

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 ...

Goole Town Goole Association Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds. History The club was established by Mike Norman i ...

, Heart of Midlothian, a return to Falkirk, East Fife,

and finally

International career

McTavish played once for

against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 19 March 1910. The match played in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

ended in a 1–0 victory for Ireland.

Personal life

McTavish's younger brother

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

was also a footballer and a forward whose career path took him to Petershill then Falkirk, where the siblings were teammates – although Bob's preferred position at right wing was occupied by

Jock Simpson John Robert Simpson (25 December 1886 – 4 January 1959) was a footballer who played as an outside right in the 1900s and 1910s. Career Club Simpson's footballing career began with Laurieston Villa, and after a trial with Rangers, he signed f ...

, with whom John had a noted partnership.Pen Pic - John McTavish - Falkirk FC - 1907
Falkirk Football Historian, 9 July 2016 The brothers also played together at Tottenham.The Spurs Alphabet
(page 284), Bob Goodwin, 2017, McTavish died in 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mctavish, John 1885 births 1944 deaths Scotland men's international footballers Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Petershill F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Bo'ness F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players York City F.C. (1908) players Goole Town F.C. players East Fife F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players People from Govan Footballers from Glasgow Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Men's association football inside forwards Scottish Junior Football Association players