Neil Hamilton Dewar (11 November 1908 – 10 January 1982) was a Scottish
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 ...
who played 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 ...
,
Manchester United,
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
and the
Scotland national team. He usually played as a
forward and had a prolific goalscoring record.
Early life
Born in
Lochgilphead
Lochgilphead (; gd, Ceann Loch Gilb ) is a town and former burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom, with a population of around 2,300 people. It is the administrative centre of Argyll and Bute. The village lies at the end of Loch G ...
,
Argyllshire, Dewar began his working life as a
trawler fisherman
A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...
.
He played for the local amateur team, Lochgilphead United, before starting his professional football career at
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 ...
in 1929.
Playing career
Third Lanark
Dewar signed for Third Lanark after a successful trial in October 1929, shortly before his 21st birthday.
In his debut season he scored 40 goals for the club and followed by helping the club to win the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
title in
1930–31
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...
. Third Lanark made a significant impact in the
First Division the
following season, finishing in fourth place. Dewar again showed impressive form, scoring 35 goals in 37 games for Thirds, and was rewarded with three
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...
. His international debut was a 3–0 defeat to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
on 9 April 1932, in which he faced future team-mates
Alfred Strange and
Ernie Blenkinsop.
In his second appearance for Scotland, the 3–1 win over
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in an International Challenge Match the following month, Dewar scored a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
.
He was also on the score-sheet in what transpired to be his final Scotland appearance, a 5–2 defeat to
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
on 26 October 1932.
Manchester United
Dewar's international matches had attracted the attention of a number of clubs south of the border, and he was trailed by leading
First Division clubs
Arsenal,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Newcastle United. It was however
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
Manchester United who won the chase for his signature, paying a hefty £4,000 for the player in February 1933.
Dewar made his debut for the club in a 3–3 draw away at
Preston North End on 11 February 1933 and the Scotsman got his name on the score-sheet.
Despite going on to score 14 goals in 36 games for the Red Devils, he was unable to adapt to the club's
playing formation and left
Old Trafford later the same year.
Sheffield Wednesday
Dewar signed for
First Division Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
on 29 December 1933 in an exchange deal that saw
George Nevin and
Jack Ball move in the other direction across the
Pennines. The deal was valued at £3,000 and was criticised by some Wednesday fans as Ball was a prolific goalscorer for the Owls.
Dewar's actions off the field overshadowed his performance on the field during his early spell at the club; he had eloped with the daughter of Manchester United director councillor
A. E. Thompson. The couple eventually married in a
registry office but the scandal surrounding the affair led to the resignation of Thompson from the United board.
A few months later, during Dewar's first season in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
, the couple had a child, Neil junior, who also went on to become a footballer, playing for
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...
.
On the pitch, Dewar proved to be a good purchase for Wednesday manager
Billy Walker, with the striker going straight in to the team and scoring on a regular basis. Despite only joining the club halfway through the season, he finished his first term at the club as joint top goal scorer (with
Harry Burgess Harry Burgess may refer to:
*Harry Burgess (footballer) (1904–1957), footballer for England, Stockport County, Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea
*Harry Burgess (governor)
{{Infobox officeholder
, image=Harry Burgess.jpg
, caption= Burgess as a We ...
and
Mark Hooper) on 13 goals.
Halfway through the
1934–35 season, Dewar lost his place in the side to
Jack Palethorpe and as a result missed all of Wednesday's matches in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, including the
1935 FA Cup Final
The 1935 FA Cup Final was contested by Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Sheffield Wednesday won 4–2, with goals scored by Jack Palethorpe, Mark Hooper and Ellis Rimmer (2). Wally Boyes and Teddy Sandford scored West B ...
victory over
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
. The season was highly successful for the Owls, with the club finishing third in Division One.
He regained his place in the first team
the following season and scored the only goal in the victory over
Arsenal in the
Charity Shield.
Dewar played in the majority of Sheffield Wednesday's matches over the rest of the season and finished as the club's top scorer with 21 goals.
Despite playing in less than half of the club's matches in the
1936–37 season, Dewar managed to repeat the feat, scoring 10 goals in a poor season for Wednesday.
He made a total of 95 appearances for the Owls, scoring an impressive 50 goals,
however the club were in decline and after the end of the 1936–37 season, with Wednesday relegated to the
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
, he decided to return to his native Scotland after never really settling in England.
Return to Scotland
On 19 July 1937, Dewar re-signed for Third Lanark in a club-record breaking £1,800 deal. He went on to play a further two years of league football at
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 t ...
before retiring from playing football in 1940. He then moved back to his home village of
Lochgilphead
Lochgilphead (; gd, Ceann Loch Gilb ) is a town and former burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom, with a population of around 2,300 people. It is the administrative centre of Argyll and Bute. The village lies at the end of Loch G ...
to work in the
countryside
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
, but despite officially hanging up his boots, he continued to play football at amateur level, playing for a veteran side named Old Crocks as late as 1947. He died on 10 January 1982.
See also
*
List of Scotland national football team hat-tricks
alt=A head and upper shoulders shot of a statue of a footballer, Denis Law, who scored three hat tricks for Scotland, pictured here in a statue outside Old Trafford.
Since Scotland national football team, Scotland's first international associat ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar, Neil
Scottish footballers
Men's association football forwards
Scotland men's international footballers
Third Lanark A.C. players
Manchester United F.C. players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Albion Rovers F.C. wartime guest players
1908 births
1982 deaths
Scottish Football League players
English Football League players
People from Lochgilphead
Scottish Football League representative players
Scotland men's wartime international footballers
Sportspeople from Argyll and Bute