Willie Rankin (footballer, born 1895)

For the Dundee and Blackburn Rovers player, see Willie Rankin (footballer, born 1900).

Willie Rankin
Personal information
Full name William Rankin[1]
Date of birth 1895[2][3]
Place of birth Burnbank, Scotland
Date of death 1950 (aged 54–55)
Place of death South Africa
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[4]
Position(s) Inside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
–1916 Burnbank Athletic
1916–1917 Parkhead Juniors
1917–1924 Motherwell 230 (54)
1924–1929 Cowdenbeath 168 (22)
1927 → Peebles Rovers (loan)
1929–1932 Clyde 79 (9)
Montrose
Benoni
International career
1919–1923 Scottish League XI 4 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Rankin was a Scottish professional football who made over 470 appearances in the Scottish Football League's top division for Motherwell, Cowdenbeath and Clyde, playing at inside right.[4][5][6]

He represented the Scottish Football League XI four times[7] and played in two of the annual Home Scots v Anglo-Scots international trial matches, scoring in one,[8][9] but this did not lead to a full cap for Scotland. In 1921 he was a member of the squad sometimes presented as 'Scotland' which toured North America, but this was organised by the Third Lanark club rather than the Scottish Football Association.[10][11][3]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Motherwell 1917–18[1] Scottish Division One 30 11 0 0 30 11
1918–19[1] 30 5 0 0 30 5
1919–20[1] 39 12 1 0 40 12
1920–21[1] 36 6 7 1 43 7
1921–22[1] 36 8 3 0 39 8
1922–23[1] 27 6 5 0 32 6
1923–24[1] 32 6 3 1 35 7
Total 230 54 19 2 249 56
Cowdenbeath 1924–25[1] Scottish Division One 35 4 1 0 36 4
1925–26[1] 29 0 1 0 30 0
1926–27[1] 35 7 2 1 37 8
1927–28[1] 31 5 1 1 32 6
1928–29[1] 38 6 2 1 40 7
Total 168 22 7 3 175 25
Clyde 1929–30[1] Scottish Division One 35 4 2 1 37 5
1930–31[1] 29 5 3 2 32 7
1931–32[1] 15 0 0 0 15 0
Total 79 9 5 3 84 12
Career total 477 85 31 8 508 93

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
  2. ^ Statutory registers - Births - Search results, ScotlandsPeople
  3. ^ a b Andy Mitchell (15 March 2013). "Scots on tour in 1921". Scottish Sport History. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Willie Rankin – motherWELLnet". motherWELLnet. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Cowdenbeath FC – Blue Brazil Online | Cowden | The Beath". www.cowdenbeathfc.com. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Rankin Willie Image 1 Motherwell 1922 – Vintage Footballers". vintagefootballers.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Willie Rankin – Scotland Football League Record from 22 Feb 1919 to 31 Oct 1923 clubs – Motherwell". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  8. ^ Football. | International Trial, The Glasgow Herald, 31 March 1920
  9. ^ Football | International Trial Match, The Glasgow Herald, 23 March 1921
  10. ^ Neil Morrison (4 January 2018). "British "FA XI" Tours: 1921 "Third Lanark's Scotland XI" - Canada and USA". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. ^ "When Third Lanark were Scotland". Before The 'D'...Association Football around the world, 1863-1937. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2020.


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