John A. McLeod (1888 – after 1912) 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

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

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 ...

for Bury. He played domestically for Inverness Caledonian and in English

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, Cumbria, a location * Hurst, Dorset, a location * Hurst, Greater Manchester, a location * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, Somerset, a settlement within the vi ...

Life and career

McLeod was born in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

in 1888. He played football for his hometown team, Inverness Caledonian of the Highland League, before moving to England in April 1910 to join

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 Bury. He made his first appearance for their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in a

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

defeat to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

's reserves on 11 April, and made his first-team debut on the last day of the

1909–10 Football League The 1909– 10 season was the 22nd season of The Football League. Final league tables Beginning in the 1894–95 season, clubs finishing level on points were separated according to goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded). In case ...

season, at home to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. A "tall, muscular and heavy" man whose "methods were crude", the contrast between his lack of technique and the "intense seriousness" with which he pursued his task caused the crowd considerable amusement. On the other hand, "his unflagging energy and his desire to render good service were very apparent", he produced a headed clearance with his goalkeeper beaten that prevented the visitors from equalising, and his

dribble In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

from the full-back position to within of goal was instrumental in Bury going 2–0 ahead. The match ended as a 2–1 win. He appeared only once more for Bury's first team, in the visit to Blackburn Rovers in January 1911. Standing in for the unfit Tom Millington, McLeod scored with a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

, but Blackburn won 6–2. McLeod was transfer-listed at the end of the season, and moved on to

. He played twice during their run to the second round (last 32) of the

1911–12 FA Cup The 1911–12 FA Cup was the 41st season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Barnsley won the competition for the first time, beating West Bromwich Alb ...

Dick Jackson Dick Jackson (born c. 1878) was an English footballer and manager who played for Middlesbrough and Sunderland as a Central defender and later managed the English football club Darlington from 1912 to 1919. Under his management, Darlington wo ...

was preferred in the other matchesand scored three goals as Darlington finished third in the

North-Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

. McLeod moved on again at the end of the season, to

, newly admitted to the Lancashire Combination. He played in their opening fixture, an 8–2 win against Oswestry United, but never appeared again.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcleod, John 1888 births Year of death missing Footballers from Inverness Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Caledonian F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Bury F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players Highland Football League players English Football League players