Thomas McAteer (30 March 1876 – 20 September 1959) 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 le ...

who played as a centre half in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

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 the Scottish League for

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Clyde,

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 ...

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

and Abercorn, and in the English Southern League for West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Life and career

McAteer was born in Smithstone, Cumbernauld, in 1876, the son of Patrick McAteer, who had migrated to the area to work in the coal mines, and his wife, Margaret Starrs. He played junior football for Kilsyth Wanderers and Smithston Hibernian before moving to England in 1898 to sign for

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 ...

club

. He spent four seasons with Bolton, scoring 10 goals from 59 league appearances: they were relegated in the first, he helped them gain promotion in 1899–1900 and played regularly in the third season but lost his place in the fourth, and was released in 1902. After two seasons in the English Southern League, the first with West Ham United, during which he played only 13 league matches, and the second with Brighton & Hove Albion, where he was appointed captain and played in every match but one, McAteer returned to Scotland where he signed for

in May 1904. He was a regular in the

1904–05 Scottish Division One The 1904–05 Scottish Division One season was won by Celtic. They and Rangers had finished the league campaign level on 41 points, and a play-off at Hampden Park (doubling up as a fixture in the minor Glasgow Football League) was arranged to ...

season as Dundee finished in mid-table, but played only four matches the following season and moved on, to Lancashire Combination club

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. He played for Clyde during the 1906–07 season before returning to Carlisle, captaining the team to the second round proper of the

1907–08 FA Cup The 1907–08 FA Cup was the 37th staging of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Wolverhampton Wanderers won the competition for the second time, beating ...

no thanks to his missing a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in a 2–2 draw with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. After they were eliminated from the competition in February 1908, he joined Clyde on a permanent basis. McAteer captained Clyde as they defeated both

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and

to reach the

1910 Scottish Cup Final Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...

, a match only settled after two replays when Clyde lost to his former club, Dundee. At the end of the season, the 34-year-old McAteer signed for Celtic. Never a first-team regular, McAteer still played in 24 Division One matches for his new club, and scored a late goal in the

1911 Scottish Cup Final The 1910–11 Scottish Cup was the 38th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Celtic who defeated Hamilton Academical 2–0 in the replayed final, after drawing 0–0. Calendar First round ...

replay against Hamilton Academical to clinch a 2–0 win. His performances earned him a place in the Home Scots team that faced the Anglo-Scots in an international trial in March 1911, but no call-up ensued. In 1912, McAteer briefly played for Wishaw Thistle before returning to league football on a part-time basis with

and Abercorn. When war broke out, McAteer enlisted and served with the Cameron Highlanders; he was badly wounded in 1915. After the war he continued as a colliery surface worker. McAteer and his wife, Mary Clinton, had several children. He died in

Kilsyth Kilsyth (; Scottish Gaelic ''Cill Saidhe'') is a town and civil parish in North Lanarkshire, roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland. The estimated population is 9,860. The town is famous for the Battle of Kilsyth and the relig ...

, Stirlingshire, in 1959 at the age of 83.

Honours

Bolton Wanderers *

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 ...

runner-up: 1899–1900 Clyde *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1909–10 Celtic * Scottish Cup winner: 1910–11

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAteer, Tom 1876 births 1959 deaths People from Cumbernauld Scottish footballers Scottish people of Irish descent Association football midfielders Bolton Wanderers F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Wishaw Juniors F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players Abercorn F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players Footballers from North Lanarkshire Southern Football League players Scottish Football League players Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders soldiers British Army personnel of World War I People from Croy