John Priestley (19 August 1900 – January 1980) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

and

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

Playing career

Born in

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

, Priestley started his career with hometown club

Johnstone F.C. Johnstone Football Club was a football club based at Newfield Park in Johnstone, Renfrewshire in Scotland. The club was a member of the Scottish Football League in two spells between 1912 and 1926. History The club was formed in 1878 and in ...

in Scotland before moving south of the border to join

in May 1920 at the age of nineteen. Priestley didn't make his debut for the ''Blues'' until a year after he joined the club, playing in a 0–0 draw away at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

on 2 May 1921.http://www.stamford-bridge.com/player.php?id=456&surname=Priestley&firstname=John#matches He wouldn't make another appearance for Chelsea until

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1922 (missing the 1921–22 season completely) turning out for the Pensioners in a 4–0 win at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Priestley made a further 22 appearances during the season, scoring his first goal in a 3–0 win against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

in front of a crowd of 20,000 at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

. The 1923–24 season saw Priestley make 42 appearances for Chelsea, scoring twice in victories against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, though he was unable to help the club stave off relegation to Division Two. In the following season, Priestley would again feature heavily for Chelsea as the side finished 5th in Division Two, missing out on promotion by 10 points. The 1925–26 campaign proved to be more fortuitous for the Scottish half back as he quadrupled his goal tally from the previous year, despite making only six more appearances in all competitions for Chelsea, helping them to a 3rd-place finish in the league come the end of the season. Priestley bettered his scoring record the following season, having his most prolific year for the Blues with 7 goals in 44 appearances. He netted twice from the penalty spot in a 2–1 win over

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

1927 and scored twice again as Chelsea beat

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 ...

a month later on 5 February. Though he only made 18 appearances in his last season ( 1927–28) on the

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, Priestley still pitched in with four goals, netting his last double in a 5–2 win against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

at Stamford Bridge. This would be Chelsea's only victory after January 1928 with Priestley in the team as the side finished 3rd in Division Two, missing out on promotion once again. After eight years with the

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

club, in 1928 he signed for

, who would go on to be promoted to Division One the following year. He later returned to Scotland, spending a season apiece with

and

. In his late 30s he turned out for Highland League club

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Priestley, John 1900 births 1980 deaths Footballers from Johnstone Chelsea F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Johnstone F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players English Football League players Keith F.C. players Highland Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers Date of death missing Men's association football wing halves