Robert McFarlane (c. 1866 – October 1898) 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 lea ...

who played as a full-back. Born in Airdrie, McFarlane began his career with local side

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

, before moving to England to play for

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

.Shury and Landamore (2005), p. 68. He was part of the Bootle side that took part in the inaugural season of the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

in 1889–90, helping them to second place behind

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. That summer, he joined Sunderland Albion, whom he also helped to a runners-up spot in 1890–91. He moved on 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 ...

in 1891–92,Dykes (1994), pp. 239–40. where he took over as captain from the departing Jack Powell. He immediately became the club's first-choice right-back and played in all but four league matches during the season, scoring once in a 5–0 win at home to

Walsall Town Swifts Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. The club's nickname, "The Saddlers", reflec ...

on 5 March 1892,Shury and Landamore (2005), p. 53. as he secured his third successive second-place finish. He also played in four

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

matches (although the second round qualifying match was technically a friendly after their opponents, Heywood, were disqualified from the competition) and the

Manchester Senior Cup The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885; ...

semi-final defeat to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. At the end of the season, while on holiday back home in Airdrie, he re-signed for Airdrieonians after being allowed to resume his amateur status.McCartney (2002), p. 15. To replace McFarlane, Newton Heath signed Airdrieonians full-back

Andrew Mitchell Sir Andrew John Bower Mitchell Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who was Shadow Foreign Secretary from July to November 2024 and served as Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom), Deputy Foreign S ...

, who had been set to partner McFarlane in defence for the Scottish club. McFarlane played a further 66 league games between 1894 (when the club joined the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

) and 1898, when he contracted pneumonia and died. His final appearance for the club came against Morton at

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

on 8 October 1898, and he died later that month. McFarlane was married to a sister of the Doughty brothers,

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

and

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

, who also played for Newton Heath in their pre-League days.

References

General * * * Specific

External links

Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcfarlane, Bob Date of birth missing 1860s births 1898 deaths Footballers from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Bootle F.C. (1879) players Sunderland Albion F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Football Alliance players Men's association football fullbacks Deaths from pneumonia in Scotland