John Blackwood (footballer, born 1877)

John Blackwood (31 August 1877 – 4 January 1913) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre forward in the Scottish League for Celtic and Partick Thistle, in the Football League for Woolwich Arsenal, and in the Southern League for Reading, Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United.

John Blackwood
Blackwood with Reading in 1902–03
Personal information
Date of birth (1877-08-31)31 August 1877
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland[1][lower-roman 1]
Date of death 4 January 1913(1913-01-04) (aged 35)
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
?000–1899 Petershill
1899–1900 Celtic 1 (0)
1899–1900 → Partick Thistle (loan) 8 (7)
1900–1901 Woolwich Arsenal 17 (6)
1901–1902 Reading 23 (6)
1902–1904 Queens Park Rangers 39 (27)
1904–1905 West Ham United 4 (1)
1905–? Royal Albert
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Blackwood started his career with Petershill and joined Scottish First Division club Celtic on 23 September 1899. He and Willie McOustra were signed by the club after playing in a friendly against The Kaffirs, a touring team from the Orange Free State.[6] After a single appearance, he was loaned to Partick Thistle of the Second Division the following month.[3] He made his debut for Thistle in November, replacing Willie Paul in the forward line in a 2–0 win over Airdrieonians, and scored his first goals later in the month, against Morton. In December, he scored twice, the first in the opening minute, in an 8–1 win against Linthouse. He continued to score goals for Thistle into the new year, with eight goals in two friendlies against Clachnacuddin and Orion, and a hat-trick against St Mirren in the Western League.[7] He had been due to play in the Scottish Cup first round match against Galston on 13 January 1900. The club had arranged with the Caledonian Railway for the train carrying the team to stop at Gorbals to pick up Blackwood and William Goudie, but it did not stop.[8] He did feature twice in the competition, scoring once, and scored seven goals in eight appearances for Thistle in the league. At the end of the season, Blackwood was recalled by Celtic, who then sold him to Football League Second Division club Woolwich Arsenal.[7]

After joining Woolwich Arsenal in May 1900, Blackwood scored on his debut, in a 2–1 win over Gainsborough Trinity on the opening day of the 1900–01 season.[9] This was to be his only season with the club; he scored six goals in 17 league appearances.[10] He also scored during his one appearance in the FA Cup, against Darwen on 5 January 1901.[4] He left for Reading in May 1901.[9]

In November 1902, Blackwood joined Queens Park Rangers. He made 15 Southern League First Division appearances during the 1902–03 season, scoring nine goals. He also played and scored in the first round of the Southern Professional Charity Cup, against Luton Town, and featured in seven Western League matches, scoring two, and three London League games, scoring once. The following season, he scored 18 goals in 24 Southern League appearances, with returns of three goals in six appearances in the Western League, and two goals in six appearances in the London League.[11]

He joined fellow Southern League First Division club West Ham United in December 1904.[5] Taking over centre forward duties from Billy Bridgeman, he scored on his debut, against Portsmouth on 26 December, but his four-match run in the team coincided with one of the club's worst ever losing streaks.[lower-roman 2] He played the last of his games for West Ham on 7 January 1905, against his old club QPR, after which Bridgeman was recalled to the team.[12][14] After leaving the Irons, he returned to Scotland, joining Royal Albert on 2 September 1905.[3]

Career statistics
Club Season League FA Cup[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Celtic[3] 1899–1900 Scottish League Division One 1000—10
Partick Thistle (loan)[3] 1899–1900 Scottish League Division Two 8721—108
Woolwich Arsenal[10] 1900–01 Football League Second Division 17611—187
Reading[15] 1901–02 Southern League 23620—256
1902–03 Southern League 0000—00
Total23620256
Queens Park Rangers[11] 1902–03 Southern League 1590011[lower-alpha 2] 42614
1903–04 Southern League 24 18 0 0 12[lower-alpha 3] 5 36 23
Total3927002396137
West Ham United[12] 1901–02 Southern League 4000—40
Career total 92465223911958
  1. Includes Scottish Cup and FA Cup
  2. Includes 1 appearance (1 goal) in Southern Professional Charity Cup, 7 appearances (2 goals) in Western League and 3 appearances (2 goals) in London League.
  3. Includes 6 appearances (3 goals) in Western League and 6 appearances (2 goals) in London League.

Notes
  1. Other sources vary as to Blackwood's place of birth. Joyce, 2012, and Litster, 2012, have Maine, US,[2][3] while 11v11.com has Burnley, England.[4] The Portsmouth Evening News, on 21 December 1904, described him as "born in Scotland".[5]
  2. West Ham lost nine matches between 26 November 1904 and 21 January 1905. This included eight league matches.[12] West Ham's longest losing run in league competition is nine matches, in 1932.[13]

References
  1. Marsh, Steve. "John BLACKWOOD ... (1904 - 1905)". theyflysohigh.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2012) [2002]. Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-905891-61-0.
  3. Litster, John (November 2012). A Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players (2 ed.). Norwich: PM Publications.
  4. "John Blackwood". 11v11.com. Association of Football Statisticians. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. "World of Sport". Portsmouth Evening News. 21 December 1904. p. 5. Retrieved 4 March 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. Macbride, Eugene (1994). An Alphabet of the Celts: A Complete Who's Who of Celtic F.C. Polar Print Group. p. 29. ISBN 9780951486276.
  7. Kennedy, Niall. "1899-1900 – Second Division Champions". Partick Thistle - The Early Years. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  8. "A Good Claim That Partick Thistle...". Scottish Referee. Lanarkshire. 15 January 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 4 March 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "John Blackwood". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  10. "Arsenal First Team Line-ups: 1900-01". The Arsenal History. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  11. "Seasonal Stats". QPRnet. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  12. Northcutt, John; Marsh, Steve (2015). West Ham United: The Complete Record. deCoubertin Books. pp. 40–43. ISBN 978-1-909245-27-3.
  13. "West Ham United scoring and sequence records". Statto.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  14. Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 29. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
  15. Sedunary, Alan (2006). Heaven on Earth Official History of Reading FC 1871–2003. Yore publications. p. 183, 187f. ISBN 0-955294-95-9.
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