Andrew McCall (15 March 1925 – December 2014) 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 lea ...

who played as a winger, making over 300 appearances 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

Early and personal life

Born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

, McCall joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

at the age of seventeen. He later served with the

King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Royal Highland Fusiliers ...

before starting his football career at

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

level with Bent Royal Oak PSA and Blantyre Celtic. His son,

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

, is a former international footballer who later became a manager. McCall suffered burns to around 25% of his body in the 1985

Bradford City stadium fire The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was k ...

. He was watching his son play. Stuart's son Craig was also a footballer.

Career

McCall moved to England to sign with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in 1947, making 87 league appearances over the next four years. On a low wage, he supplemented his income by working at

Blackpool Pleasure Beach Pleasure Beach Resort, best known by its former name Blackpool Pleasure Beach, is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. The park was founded in 1896 by A. W. G. Bean and his p ...

during the summers."Si Ferry Meets... Stuart McCall"
- YouTube, 6 May 2019 In 2021, exactly seventy years after McCall left Blackpool, his son, Stuart, joined the club as assistant to head coach

Neil Critchley Neil Critchley (born 18 October 1978) is an English football coach who was most recently the head coach of Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian. A former association football, footballer, he previously played ...

."Stuart McCall Joins Blackpool's Coaching Staff"
– Blackpool F.C., 22 July 2021 McCall signed for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in 1951, and in his sole season at the club made 31 league appearances. He then signed for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in 1952, and in three years made 62 league appearances. He later played with Welsh side Lovell's Athletic, before returning to English football with Halifax Town, for whom he made 139 league appearances.

References

1925 births 2014 deaths Scottish men's footballers Blantyre Celtic F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Lovell's Athletic F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football wingers Scottish Junior Football Association players Footballers from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Royal Navy personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from South Lanarkshire King's Own Scottish Borderers soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1920s-stub