John Legat Bain BEM (2 September 1923 – 2 June 2019) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, manager and chairman for Ferranti Thistle and Meadowbank Thistle (the predecessor clubs of Livingston).

Club career

Bain left 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 ...

in 1952 to become a planning engineer with high-tech firm Ferranti in his home city of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. He joined the company's football team Ferranti Thistle and starred as a left-back. He played until he was 40, and was convinced to take over as manager. He then became chairman for 15 years before being convinced to step back in as manager when the club was renamed Meadowbank Thistle and 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 ...

in 1974. Bain remained involved with the team, which changed its name in 1995 to accompany a relocation to

Almondvale Stadium Almondvale Stadium, also known as The Home of the Set Fare Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a association football, football stadium, located in the Almondvale area of Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland. It has been the home ground of Scottish ...

Livingston, West Lothian Livingston (, ) is the largest town in West Lothian, Scotland. Designated in 1962, it is the fourth post-war New towns in the United Kingdom, new town to be built in Scotland. Taking its name from Livingston Village, a village of the same name ...

, as the team's honorary vice-president.

Personal life and death

Bain retired in 1980. He was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

(BEM) in the 1988 New Year Honours. He died in Livingston in 2019, at the age of 95.

Honours

Ferranti Thistle *

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cu ...

: 1962–63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bain, John 1923 births 2019 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Edinburgh Men's association football defenders Livingston F.C. players Scottish football managers Livingston F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers Portsmouth F.C. players Reading F.C. players Recipients of the British Empire Medal 20th-century Scottish sportsmen Livingston F.C. directors and chairmen