John Gould Veitch, Jr. (19 July 1869 – 3 October 1914) was an English amateur

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 the

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

club in the 1890s. He made one appearance for

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 ...

playing at

inside left 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 ...

in 1894, in which he scored a hat trick. Outside football, he was a member of the Exeter-based

Veitch Nurseries The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into t ...

business.

Family and education

Veitch was born in Kingston Hill, Surrey, the son of John Gould Veitch and his wife, Jane (née Hodge). His father was a horticulturist, one of a long line of renowned plant collectors and breeders. His elder brother James Herbert Veitch became a partner and subsequently owner of the

business. Veitch was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and was a member of the school football side in 1887. He then went up to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

( Trinity College), where he won a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

in 1888, 1889, 1890 and 1891.

Football career

On leaving university, he continued to play for Old Westminsters, although he was also a member of the

amateur club, having made his first appearance for them while still at university on 26 January 1889 in a 1–0 defeat by Preston North End. His next appearance was on 16 February when he scored in a 3–1 victory over

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Celtic. Over the next few years, his appearances for Corinthian were fairly infrequent, until after he had left university. In the 1891–92 season, he played in thirteen of Corinthian's 16 fixtures, scoring twelve goals, including a hat-trick against Scottish side Renton on 18 April 1892. In the following season he only played nine matches for Cornthian, and would also make a solitary appearance for Slough against

Wolverton Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and G ...

in a 6-1 defeat, but in 1893–94 he made 17 Corinthian appearances scoring ten goals. In the match against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

on 27 March 1894, he scored four goals as Corinthian ran out 5–3 winners. For the match against

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 ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

on 12 March 1894, the

selectors decided to field a team consisting entirely of players with

connections, including three players making their international début.

Lewis Vaughan Lodge Lewis Vaughan Lodge (21 December 1872 – 21 October 1916) was an English footballer who represented the England national football team. He also played first-class cricket with Hampshire. Sporting career Lodge, a left- or right-back, made his ...

(

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

) made the first of five appearances at right back;

Arthur Topham Arthur George Topham (19 February 1869 – 18 May 1931) was an English international footballer who played as a left half. Early and personal life Topham was born in Elson, near Ellesmere, as the youngest of six children. His brother Robert w ...

( Casuals) made his solitary England appearance at left half while the third débutante was John Veitch who played at

, alongside his fellow Old Westminster

Rupert Sandilands Rupert Renorden Sandilands (7 August 186820 April 1946) was an English international footballer who played as an outside left. Early and personal life Sandilands was born on 7 August 1868 at the vicarage in Denford, near Thrapston in Northampto ...

. Wales opened the scoring after 10 minutes, but by half-time England had taken the lead with a goal from Veitch and an own goal from

Charlie Parry Charles Frederick Parry (1870 – 4 February 1922) was a Welsh footballer who played as a defender for Everton in the 1890s, helping them to win the Football League championship in 1891. He also made thirteen appearances for the Wales national ...

. Veitch scored again early in the second half and completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute, thus joining a select band to score a hat-trick on his début. The fifth goal came from Robert Cunliffe Gosling as England ran out comfortable 5–1 victors. Veitch is one of five players to have scored a hat-trick on his England debut, yet not make a second appearance. Veitch started the 1894–95 season with seven goals in the opening three matches, but he was then only able to make the occasional appearance, with his final match for Corinthian coming on 13 April 1898, when he appeared at full-back. In his nine years with Corinthian, he scored 49 goals in 69 appearances.

After football

He joined the family horticulture business as company secretary. He did not enjoy good health for long as he had weak lungs and suffered from premature deafness. Following the death of his brother,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

in 1907, John succeeded to the

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

business. He did not, however, have the ability to run the business successfully, and his uncle Sir

Harry Veitch Sir Harry James Veitch (24 June 1840 – 6 July 1924) was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London. He was instrumental in establi ...

returned to take over control. Following John's death in October 1914 at the age of 45, Sir Harry closed the business.

References

External links

*
England profile on www.englandfootballonline.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veitch, John 1869 births 1914 deaths Footballers from Kingston upon Thames People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge England international footballers English footballers Cambridge University A.F.C. players Corinthian F.C. players Veitch Nurseries Old Westminsters F.C. players Association football inside forwards