John Ross Black (26 May 1900 – December 1993) 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 usually played as an

outside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Biography

John Ross Black was born in Dunipace,

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

on 26 May 1900. His elder brother

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played for

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, and holds the record for the most first-team appearances for the club. He served in the

Gordon Highlanders The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Go ...

Army regiment in the late 1910s, before starting his football career. After his retirement from football, Black continued to live in England, and he died in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, in December 1993 at the age of 93.

Career

Black started his football career with Scottish Junior side Denny Hibernian in the early 1920s. In April 1921, he was signed as an amateur by

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. He was awarded a professional contract at the start of the 1921–22 season, but did not become a first-team regular and made only two first-team appearances for the team during the campaign. In the summer of 1922, Black signed for

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

outfit

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

on a free transfer. He was not inserted straight into the team, but made his debut for the club in the sixth league game of the season, a 2–0 win over

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

on 23 September 1922. He continued to play at outside-right for the next nine matches, scoring his first Nelson goal in the 1–0 win against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

on 28 October, before his place in the side was taken by Sid Hoad.Dykes, p. 76 In January 1923, Black was moved to inside left for two games before a spell at centre forward in which he scored three goals in four matches, including a brace against Chesterfield on 10 March. Towards the end of the campaign he was moved into the defense, and played several games at right wing-half and right fullback. He ended the season with five goals in 23 appearances as Nelson finished as champions of the Third Division North, gaining promotion to the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

for the first time in their history. In a higher division, Black found his first-team opportunities limited, playing six games at the start of the season, including one match in the unfamiliar position of inside-right. His final league appearance for Nelson came on 15 September 1923 in the 1–1 home draw with Hull City.Dykes, p. 77 Black transferred to Third Division North side

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

in February 1924. He impressed during his spell at Peel Park, netting five goals in 14 league games. His performances earned him a move to Chesterfield in the summer of 1925, for a fee of £25. In his first season with the Spireites, he made 19 league appearances but failed to get on the scoresheet. Black suffered a broken leg at the start of the 1925–26 season, restricting him to only two more league games for the club before leaving to join Third Division South side

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

at the start of the following campaign. After almost 100 league appearances in four seasons with the Bedfordshire outfit, Black joined

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, where he played 49 games and scored two goals before retiring from football at the end of the 1931–32 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, John 1900 births 1993 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football wing halves Sunderland A.F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players Chesterfield F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Denny Hibernian F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Gordon Highlanders soldiers 20th-century British Army personnel Footballers from Denny, Falkirk Military personnel from Falkirk (council area) 20th-century Scottish sportsmen