John Divers (6 August 1911 – 8 June 1984) 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 for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, Morton,

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and the Scotland national side.

Career

Divers was born in

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...

. He was a creative, goal-scoring but tough

inside left 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 be ...

, who joined Celtic from Renfrew Juniors in 1932. He helped the club to win the Scottish league championship in 1937–38 and was also the creative mastermind behind its victory in the Empire Exhibition Trophy of summer 1938, when Celtic beat Everton 1–0 in the final, before winning a

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...

at the end of the same year. He made 70 League appearances for the club, but played over 200 matches overall including unofficial wartime games (he did not see frontline service, instead working in a

reserved occupation A reserved occupation (also known as essential services) is an occupation considered important enough to a country that those serving in such occupations are exempt or forbidden from military service. In a total war, such as the Second World War, ...

in the local shipyards, so was able to continue playing). He left Celtic for Morton in 1945, moving to

for several months in 1947 before returning to finish his career with a second spell with Morton between 1948 and 1949. He earned one cap for Scotland, against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in October 1938.

Family

Divers was the nephew of former Celtic and Ireland player Patsy Gallacher, while his son, also named

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, played for Celtic and

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

. His family connections mean he was also related to fellow footballing descendants of Patsy Gallacher: sons

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

and Tommy, and grandsons

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

and Kevin.

References

External links

John Divers profile
at ''thecelticwiki.com'' * 1911 births 1984 deaths Scottish men's footballers Celtic F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Footballers from Clydebank Men's association football inside forwards Scottish Football League players Portadown F.C. players Scottish football managers Portadown F.C. managers Renfrew F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Gallacher family (association football) English Football League players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen Men's association football player-managers {{Scotland-footy-forward-1910s-stub