Willie Rankin (footballer, born 1895)

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]

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)
0000–1916 Burnbank Athletic
1916–1917 Parkhead Juniors
1917–1924 Motherwell 230 (54)
1924–1929 Cowdenbeath 168 (22)
1927Peebles Rovers (loan)
1929–1932 Clyde 79 (9)
Montrose
Benoni
International career
1919–1923 Scottish League XI 4 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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

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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

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References

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  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.