John Scott

DOB: 22nd December 1933

Position: Winger

Season of first appearance: 1964/65

Season of last appearance: 1965/66

Full Appearances: 95

Substitute: 0

Goals: 26

Also played for:

Boyland FC (Northern Ireland), Ormond Star (Northern Ireland), Manchester United (3,0), Grimsby Town (249,54), York City (22,3).

Player Profile:

5' 7" tall, tricky Belfast-born winger who started with Boyland FC and Ormond Star before signing for Manchester United in October 1951.

John made three 1st Division appearances for United between 1952/53 and 1955/56, making his debut on 4.10.52 away to Wolves.

He left Old Trafford to join Grimsby for the 1956/57 season and stayed with the club for seven years, making 249 first-team appearances and scoring 54 goals for them.

While with Grimsby, John played for the Northern Ireland 'B' team and also gained two full caps. They were both won during the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. John made his debut in the Group One play-off against Czechoslovakia, which the Irish won 2-1 after extra time. His second and final appearance was in the World Cup Quarter Final against France, a match that the Irish lost 4-0.

After his lengthy spell at Grimsby, John moved onto York City for the 1963/64 season. He played 22 senior games and scored three times during the campaign.

In the summer of 1964, John joined Margate and made his debut in a 2-0 win over Bath at Hartsdown Park on 22.8.64. He quickly made the right wing berth his own, impressing with his speed and accurate crossing. He made a total of 48 appearances during the 1964/65 season and scored 17 times. His goals included a bullet-like shot in a 3-0 win over Canterbury on 9.12.64 and another long-range effort in a 3-0 win over Bromley on 24.2.65. The local press described John as being "the most talented player on Margate's books" during the campaign. However, at the end of the season he was initially told he could leave and had talks with Ramsgate but was then re-signed by manager Almer Hall.

During the 1965/66 campaign, John suffered a bad run of minor injuries but still made a further 47 appearances and scored nine goals, many of them spectacular. On 23.8.65, he found the net with a lob from way out on the right-hand touchline as Margate beat Folkestone 4-3 at Hartsdown Park and on 6.9.65 John fired home a 30-yard shot during a 4-0 home win over Canterbury in which he scored twice. 

On 8.11.65, he cracked in a low 20-yarder in a 2-0 win over visitors Ramsgate in the Kent Floodlight Cup and then scored with a brilliant dipping 25-yard shot in a 2-1 defeat at Yeovil on 4.12.65. John spent most of the season in his regular right-wing berth but also played as a striker on occasions. However, at the end of the campaign he was released by the club, shortly after Margate's relegation from the Southern League Premier Division had been confirmed.

John sadly died in an accident on a Manchester building site in June 1978 aged only 44.