John Browning (29 November 1888 – 14 November 1964) was a Scottish footballer who played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, winning four league titles with the club. He is also remembered for his

bribe Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corr ...

ry charges in the early part of the 20th century.

Career

Club

Browning played for local clubs

Glasgow Perthshire Glasgow Perthshire Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Possilpark, in the north of Glasgow. History The Glasgow Perthshire Athletic Club, within which the football club operated, was formed on 7 November 1890 at the Waterloo R ...

, Bonhill Hibs,

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 ' ...

, and Dumbarton Harp before arriving at

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necropo ...

in 1911. He was loaned back to his two previous teams during his first year at the club. He made his league debut for Celtic in a 1–0 victory over

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 ...

Cathkin Park Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the ...

on 2 November 1912. He was a winger who played with a straightforward, forceful attacking flair which led to plenty of goals. In seven years with Celtic he managed to score a goal every three games, including 15 from 38 league matches during the 1914–15 season. He won four Scottish League titles in consecutive years, from

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

(the league continued during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

). He moved to

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 ...

in June 1919 where he made just five league appearances, before signing for Vale of Leven in June 1920, and then

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 ...

in September 1920; in 1922 he went back to Vale of Leven again (the club now having re-joined the SFL) for two more years.

International

On 28 February 1914, Browning made his first and only appearance 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 ...

, in a goalless draw against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at Celtic Park. He represented the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

twice, again in 1914 and was also selected to play for the Glasgow FA against

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

in the same year.

Personal life

In 1924, he and

Archie Kyle Archibald Kyle (13 July 1883 – 21 July 1957) was a Scottish football player who played for Rangers, Blackburn Rovers and Hamilton Academical. Career Kyle joined Rangers from Parkhead in 1904. He was one of a number of Roman Catholic players ...

, a former Rangers player, were found guilty of attempting to bribe

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Falki ...

player Peter Brown in a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in Glasgow's Dundas Street: both men were sentenced to 60 days' hard labour. Browning's son of the same name was also a footballer;Senior Football Players from the Vale of Leven in the 20th Century Johnny Browning (Outside left: Dumbarton Harp, Vale of Leven, Celtic, Chelsea, Dumbarton. Senior career 1910 - 1924)
The Vale of Leven in addition to playing for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

he also appeared for Dumbarton.

References

;Sources *''Celtic: A complete record 1888-1992'' by Paul Lunney () {{DEFAULTSORT:Browning, John 1888 births 1964 deaths Sportspeople from Dumbarton Footballers from West Dunbartonshire Dumbarton Harp F.C. players Glasgow Perthshire F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Celtic F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Vale of Leven F.C. players Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Association football wingers 20th-century Scottish criminals People convicted of bribery Sportspeople convicted of crimes