Harold McKenna

Hugh Harold McKenna (1895 – 1985) was an Irish footballer who played as a left half or centre half.

Harold McKenna
Personal information
Full name Hugh Harold McKenna[1]
Date of birth c. 1895
Place of birth Ireland
Date of death 1985 (aged 89–90)[2]
Place of death Bearsden, Scotland
Position(s)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1916–1921 Rangers 40 (0)
1918–1920 St Mirren 50 (0)
1921–1924 Third Lanark 93 (2)
1924–1925 Brighton & Hove Albion 7 (0)
1925–1926 Alloa Athletic 17 (0)
Total 207 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Having moved to Scotland from Belfast with his family as a young child in about 1898, he was raised amidst the shipyards of western Glasgow (Whiteinch and Yoker)[3] and began his senior football career with Rangers in 1916, with his employment in a reserved occupation as an engineer at the yards sparing him from being called up to active service with the armed forces during World War I. He played in Scottish Football League 24 matches in his first season at Ibrox, then 12 in his second (1917–18) as the club finished as champions.[4][5] McKenna was then loaned to St Mirren for two years,[5] during which he won the 1919 Victory Cup with the Paisley side.[6][7] Returning to Rangers he found himself down the queue for selection, and though the Gers won the league again in 1920–21, he made only four appearances[4] and is unlikely to have received a medal.

In October 1921 he moved on to Third Lanark, playing regularly for three seasons[5] including a semi-final of the Scottish Cup,[8] and taking part in the club's tour of South America in the summer of 1923.[9][10] He transferred to England with Brighton & Hove Albion (then members of the Football League Third Division South) in November 1924, returning to Scotland nine months later with second-tier Alloa Athletic where he played for one season before retiring from playing.[5]

References
  1. 'Highland Pride': La Plata, Argentina to Liverpool, England, 4 Aug 1923, UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, via Ancestry (subscription required)
  2. Statutory registers - Deaths - Search results, ScotlandsPeople
  3. 1911 McKenna, Martha (Census 575/2 3/ 6) Page 6 of 23, ScotlandsPeople(subscription required)
  4. (Rangers player) McKenna, Harold J., FitbaStats
  5. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "Victory Cup". StMirren.info. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  7. "Sat 26 Apr 1919; St Mirren 3 Hearts 0 AET". London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  8. Association Football | Hibernian, 1; Third Lanark, 0., The Glasgow Herald, 12 March 1923
  9. Ciullini, Pablo. "Río de la Plata Trip of Third Lanark 1923". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  10. Tommy McInally: Celtic's Bad Bhoy, David Potter; Black & White Publishing, 2009; ISBN 9781845025786
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