Tom McAteer

Thomas McAteer (30 March 1876 – 20 September 1959) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, in the Scottish League for Dundee, Clyde, Celtic, Albion Rovers and Abercorn, and in the English Southern League for West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion.[4]

Tom McAteer
Personal information
Full name Thomas McAteer[1]
Date of birth (1876-03-30)30 March 1876[2]
Place of birth Smithstone, Scotland
Date of death 20 September 1959(1959-09-20) (aged 83)[2]
Place of death Kilsyth,[2] Scotland
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s) Centre half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Kilsyth Wanderers
189?–1898 Smithston Hibernian
1898–1902 Bolton Wanderers 59 (10)
1902–1903 West Ham United 13 (0)
1903–1904 Brighton & Hove Albion 33 (1)
1904–1905 Dundee 26 (3)
1905–1908 Carlisle United
1906–1907 → Clyde (loan) 25 (4)
1908–1910 Clyde 64 (8)
1910–1913 Celtic 24 (4)
1912 → Wishaw Thistle (loan)
1912–1913 → Albion Rovers (loan) 23 (6)
1913–1915 Abercorn 5 (0)
1914–1915 → Broxburn (loan)
Cameron Highlanders
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

McAteer was born in Smithstone, Cumbernauld, in 1876, the son of Patrick McAteer, who had migrated to the area to work in the coal mines, and his wife, Margaret Starrs.[2] He played junior football for Kilsyth Wanderers and Smithston Hibernian before moving to England in 1898 to sign for Football League First Division club Bolton Wanderers.[3] He spent four seasons with Bolton, scoring 10 goals from 59 league appearances:[1] they were relegated in the first, he helped them gain promotion in 1899–1900 and played regularly in the third season but lost his place in the fourth, and was released in 1902.[3]

After two seasons in the English Southern League, the first with West Ham United, during which he played only 13 league matches,[5] and the second with Brighton & Hove Albion, where he was appointed captain and played in every match but one, McAteer returned to Scotland where he signed for Dundee in May 1904.[3] He was a regular in the 1904–05 Scottish Division One season as Dundee finished in mid-table, but played only four matches the following season and moved on,[6] to Lancashire Combination club Carlisle United.

He played for Clyde during the 1906–07 season before returning to Carlisle, captaining the team to the second round proper of the 1907–08 FA Cup – no thanks to his missing a penalty in a 2–2 draw with Brentford.[2][7] After they were eliminated from the competition in February 1908, he joined Clyde on a permanent basis.[8] McAteer captained Clyde as they defeated both Rangers and Celtic to reach the 1910 Scottish Cup Final,[3] a match only settled after two replays when Clyde lost to his former club, Dundee.[9]

At the end of the season, the 34-year-old McAteer signed for Celtic. Never a first-team regular, McAteer still played in 24 Division One matches for his new club, and scored a late goal in the 1911 Scottish Cup Final replay against Hamilton Academical to clinch a 2–0 win.[10][11] His performances earned him a place in the Home Scots team that faced the Anglo-Scots in an international trial in March 1911, but no call-up ensued.[12]

In 1912, McAteer briefly played for Wishaw Thistle before returning to league football on a part-time basis with Albion Rovers and Abercorn. When war broke out, McAteer enlisted and served with the Cameron Highlanders; he was badly wounded in 1915.[3] After the war he continued as a colliery surface worker.[2]

McAteer and his wife, Mary Clinton, had several children. He died in Kilsyth, Stirlingshire, in 1959 at the age of 83.[2][13]

Honours

Bolton Wanderers

Clyde

Celtic

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. McCallum, Ian (20 August 2014). "Thomas McAteer". Celtic Graves Society. Archived from the original on 13 February 2016.
  3. Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  4. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "Tommy McAteer". West Ham Stats. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  6. "1904–05" and "1905–06". DundeeFC.net. 23 April 2002. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  7. "The F.A. Cup. Further Southern reverses in the first round. Brentford beaten". The Standard. London. 16 January 1908. p. 11.
  8. "M'Ateer returns to Clyde". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. 10 February 1908. p. 3.
  9. Ross, Kenny. "1910 – Scottish Cup". Dundee F.C. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  10. "McAteer, Thomas". The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  11. "Association Football. The triumph of the Celtic". The Glasgow Herald. 17 April 1911. p. 17.
  12. "Football. Trial match in Glasgow". The Glasgow Herald. 21 March 1911. p. 13.
  13. "1911 Census Entry and 1959 Deaths in Kilsyth Register Entry (images)". 19 August 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2018 – via Celtic Graves Society.
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