Philip Ross Watson (23 February 1907 – 1990) was a Scottish professional

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 ...

. He made one appearance for the Scotland national team. He played as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

Club career

Hamilton Academical

Watson began his senior career in his native Scotland in 1927 with

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

Blackpool

In 1932, he moved south to join Blackpool. He made his debut for the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

club on 13 February 1932, in a 2–0 victory over Everton at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

. He came into a defence which had leaked seven goals at Manchester City a week earlier. He made a further fourteen league appearances in the 1931–32 season, scoring one goal – in a 2–2 draw at home to

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 populat ...

on 5 March. The previous month, he marked Everton's Dixie Dean out of the game, and the ''Toffees'' player congratulated him at the final whistle as

Jimmy Hampson James Hampson (23 March 1906 – 10 January 1938) was an English professional footballer. He spent eleven seasons at Blackpool, where he remains record goalscorer with 252 goals in 373 games, and is still regarded as one of the best centre forw ...

's brace gave Blackpool a 2–0 win. The following season, 1932–33, he was an ever-present in the club's 45 league and cup games. He scored seven league goals, including 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 ...

against Aston Villa at Bloomfield Road on 18 March 1933. He was deputising in the forward line for the injured Jimmy Hampson. Despite his contributions, Blackpool finished bottom of

Division One The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

and were relegated. Another ever-present season followed in 1933–34. He scored one league goal and one

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 ...

goal. His run of 129 consecutive games for Blackpool ended midway through the 1934–35 campaign, in which he made 34 appearances and scored two goals. After the signing of centre-half

Louis Cardwell Louis Cardwell (20 August 1912 – 23 April 1986) was an English professional footballer. A defender, he spent six years at Blackpool in the 1930s, making over 100 the Football League appearances for the club, and helping them to win promotion ...

, Watson moved to the right-back position. He appeared in the forward line again for two games, alongside

Bobby Finan Robert Joseph Finan (1 March 1912 – 25 July 1983) was a Scottish professional footballer. He played as a forward. Club career Finan was born in Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire. He started his career at Scottish junior club Yoker Athlet ...

firstly, then Peter Doherty. Watson continued at right-back for the 1935–36 season, making 35 league appearances. He missed the entire 1936–37 season through injury, but returned to the team in 1937–38, his final one as a Blackpool player, back in the centre-half position. Watson's 178th and final appearance for Blackpool occurred on 13 November 1937, in a 3–0 home defeat at the hands of

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

Barnsley

Barnsley became his third club, but he only made four league appearances for ''the Tykes'' before returning to Scotland to finish his career with Queen of the South.

Queen of the South

Signed by

Willie Ferguson William Copeland Ferguson (13 February 1901 – 31 August 1960) was a Scottish footballer and manager best known for his time at Chelsea and Dumfries side Queen of the South. His position was usually as a left winger. Early years Ferguson ...

in 1938, Watson played in the final game of the 1937–38 season, a 3–2 victory against Rangers at

Ibrox Park Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of . ...

; his pass to Jackie Oakes led to Queens' first goal. This was the club's first league victory against Rangers (although they had knocked them out of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1933 while playing for Blackpool. He had been selected once for the

Scottish Football 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 ...

in 1930 while with Hamilton.

Personal life

His father, likewise named Philip Ross Watson, was also a footballer who made over 100 appearances for Hamilton Academical. His brother Martin played in Scotland's second tier, mainly for

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 ...

.Martin Watson – Player Profile
Sons Archive Watson died in 1990 at the age of 83.

References

;Specific ;General * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Phil 1907 births 1990 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Hamilton Academical F.C. players Footballers from North Lanarkshire Wishaw F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players Sportspeople from Shotts Men's association football defenders