Robert John Buchanan (22 November 1867 – 1909) was a Scottish international

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 le ...

, who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the 1890s.

Playing career

Early career

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, he started his career as a youth player with

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

before joining Abercorn in 1887. Whilst on the books of Abercorn, he made his solitary international 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 ...

on 21 March 1891 scoring in a 4–3 victory over

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 ...

. He then moved to England to join the short-lived Sunderland Albion.

Burnley

After Sunderland Albion disbanded in May 1892, he transferred to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, playing in the

Football League First Division 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 ...

. In his first season he was top scorer (jointly with Billy Bowes) with eight goals from 22 appearances, helping Burnley to finish in sixth place, their highest league finish to date. The following season, Buchanan was less successful in front of goal with only four goals from his 18 appearances, but Burnley finished the season one place higher in the league table.

Woolwich Arsenal

In September 1894 he moved to join Woolwich Arsenal, for 1894–95, their second season in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

. Playing alongside Peter Mortimer and Paddy O'Brien, he contributed nine goals from his 25 appearances, which included a goal on his debut, in Arsenal's 4–2 win over

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 ...

on 29 September 1894. The following season he made 17 appearances with seven goals, switching from

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

to inside left. In total he scored 16 goals in 44 league and cup appearances for Arsenal.

Southampton

He moved to the south coast in the summer of 1896 to join Southern League team Southampton St. Mary's. The

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

public took to him immediately and his "''never-give-up''" attitude earned him the nickname "''Death or Glory Bob''". In his first season with the "Saints" he was ever-present, scoring eleven league goals as Southampton took the Southern League title for the first time. He scored a

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in his second appearance, a 6–1 victory over Sheppey United on 26 September 1896. He also helped Southampton reach Round 2 of 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 ...

for the first time, where they went out to

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

after a replay. The following season, he was top-scorer with ten league and six FA Cup goals as the Saints again took the Southern League championship. Saints also had a superb run in the FA Cup reaching the

semi final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

where they went out in a replay 2–0 to

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 ...

. In the cup run he scored "''unlikely goals''" against Leicester Fosse and

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 ...

. Although he remained with Southampton for the 1898–98 season, he only played twice. After 57 appearances for the Saints with 33 goals, he moved back to south-east London to join Sheppey United.

Later life

On retiring from the game, he settled in

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

, where he worked as an engine-fitter and died in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

in early 1909.

Honours

;Southampton * Southern League championship: 1896–97 & 1897–98

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Robert 1867 births Footballers from Edinburgh 1909 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Abercorn F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Johnstone F.C. players Sheppey United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Sunderland Albion F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Date of death missing Men's association football forwards