David Cochrane Mathers (23 October 1931 – 22 August 2014) 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 le ...

, who played as a left-half for

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

and the Scotland national team. Mathers joined

from

Govan High School Govan High School is a secondary school situated in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. It opened on its current site in 1969 and in 2010 it celebrated its centenary, with Sir Alex Ferguson (a former pupil) attending the event. Notable alumni *Sir Alex F ...

in 1947 and turned professional two years later, aged 17. He remained there until September 1959, when he joined Southern League team Headington United. That club changed its name to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

the following summer. Mathers returned to Partick in December 1960, but did not make any more first team appearances for the club. He signed for

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

in the summer of 1961 and retired after one season there. Mathers played once 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 ...

, against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in what was their final preparation match before the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerla ...

finals. Although named in Scotland's 22-man squad for Switzerland, Scotland decided to take only 13 of the 22 to the finals. Mathers stayed at home on reserve, along with the likes of Bobby Combe and Jimmy Binning. Inside forward George Hamilton was also on reserve, but travelled after

Bobby Johnstone Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League. Johnstone ...

withdrew through injury. Mathers also represented the Scottish League once, in 1956.

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* 1931 births 2014 deaths Men's association football wing halves Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players Partick Thistle F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Footballers from Glasgow {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub