Robert Christie (footballer)

Robert Main Christie (15 November 1865 – 15 May 1918), sometimes known as Bob Christie, was a Scottish amateur footballer who played as an outside forward, most notably for Queen's Park. He later became president of the SFA and represented Scotland at curling.[3]

Robert Christie
Personal information
Full name Robert Main Christie[1]
Date of birth 15 November 1865
Place of birth Dunblane, Scotland
Date of death 15 May 1918(1918-05-15) (aged 52)[2]
Place of death Rouen, France
Position(s) Outside forward, left half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Dunblane
Edinburgh University
1883–1888 Queen's Park 0 (0)
0000–1889 Dunblane
National team
1884 Scotland 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

An outside forward and left half, Christie began his career with Dunblane and Edinburgh University and won the 1882–83 East of Scotland Shield with the latter club.[3] He joined Queen's Park in September 1883 and in a short, but eventful career with the Spiders, he scored in the 1884 FA Cup Final (becoming the only Scot to score for a Scottish club in an FA Cup Final and until Norman Whiteside 99 years later, the youngest goalscorer in an FA Cup Final) and won the 1885–86 Scottish Cup and two Glasgow Merchants Charity Cups.[1][4] A serious knee injury forced Christie into an early retirement at age 21 and after a one-off comeback appearance in October 1888,[4] he finished his Queen's Park career with 28 appearances and 15 goals.[1] He made a short comeback with Dunblane and ended his career by helping the club to win the 1889–89 Perthshire Cup.[3]

International career

Christie won one cap for Scotland, in a 1–0 defeat to England on 15 March 1884.[5]

Administrative career

At the age of 21, Christie was elected to represent Perthshire at the SFA and after his retirement from football, Christie remained with Dunblane as the club's secretary.[3] He became president of the SFA in 1903.[3] Christie also administered Dunblane's first golf club.[3]

Personal life

Christie was married with five children.[3] His younger brother Alex would also become an international footballer and until 2014, his great grandson Ranald Gilbert was general manager of Ross County.[3][6] Christie attended Edinburgh University and after his retirement from football, he became a civil engineer and architect in Dunblane.[3] Christie served as a captain in the Black Watch during the Second Boer War and enlisted in the Highland Light Infantry after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.[4][7] He was later attached to the Royal Scots Fusiliers and saw action on the Western Front and in Salonika.[3] Christie was seconded to the Labour Corps and was an acting lieutenant colonel when his company was shelled with mustard gas while cable-laying near Foncquevillers, France on 11 May 1918.[8] He lived on for four days before dying in a Red Cross hospital in Rouen.[3] Christie was buried in Rouen's St. Sever Cemetery.[2]

Honours

Queen's Park

Edinburgh University

Dunblane

  • Perthshire Cup (1): 1888–89[3]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Scottish Cup FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Queen's Park 1883–84[1] 6 3 7 4 2[lower-alpha 1] 1 15 8
1884–85[1] 1 0 4 4 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 6 4
1885–86[1] 6 3 0 0 0 0 6 3
1888–89[1] 1 0 — 0 0 1 0
Career total 14 6 11 8 3 1 28 15
  1. Appearances in Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup

References
  1. "Christie, Robert Main". QPFC.com – A Historical Queen's Park FC Website. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  2. "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  3. Mitchell, Andy. "Robert Main Christie: Dunblane's original sporting hero". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  4. "Christie Robert Queen's Park 1905". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  5. Robert Christie at the Scottish Football Association
  6. "Parting is such sweet sorrow for 'Mr Ross County'". www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  7. "Robert Main Christie | Service Record". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  8. McCrossan, Frank. "Queen's Park And The Great War 1914 To 1918 – The Nine Queen's Park Men Who Died In 1918, As At May 2018" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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