Andrew Thomson Ralston

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Andrew Ralston
Personal information
Date of birth (1880-03-26)26 March 1880
Place of birth Trodigal, Argyllshire
Date of death 31 January 1950(1950-01-31) (aged 69)
Place of death Ealing, Middlesex
Position(s) Full-back

Andrew Thomson Ralston (26 March 1880 - 31 January 1950) was a Scottish amateur footballer and football administrator in England.[1][2] In a history of London Caledonians FC, Ralston was described as 'a tall, square, big boned youth with a power of kick quite equal to that of the renowned Bill Hay'.[1]

Life[edit]

Ralston was born on 26 March 1880 into a farming family at Machrihanish, Argyllshire and was educated in England at Bedford Modern School between 1890 and 1895.[3][4]

Ralston pursued a career in insurance in London and joined the London Caledonians FC, a team for Scottish exiles based in the capital, and skippered the side for six years.[4] Ralston was a long serving player and continued to represent the club in his forties. He also played as an amateur for various professional clubs including Watford, Southend United and Tottenham Hotspur for whom he made over 100 appearances between 1915 and 1919.[5][6] As a youngster he had also joined Aston Villa but does not appear to have made any appearances in the first team.[7]

In 1914, he played for London FA against Birmingham FA.[8] During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force and after the war, in 1919, played in a football game between London Command and the RAF.[9][10] His participation in a game between London Caledonians FC against Oxford University was reported in The Times.[11]

Ralston served as Honorary Secretary of London Caledonians and the Isthmian League between 1926 and 1935 when he took over as Secretary and Treasurer.[12][13] He also served on the Council of the Football Association where he represented the interests of the amateur game.[4] In his capacity as an official of the FA, in 1949 he arranged a tour of the Nigerian Football team to play teams in England.[14][15] He also acted as liaison officer for the Sing Tao SC tour of England.[4] As a senior member of the amateur international selection committee, he was in the chair at an FA Dinner in Plymouth where Sir Stanley Rous was the key guest.[16]

Andrew Ralston died at a nursing home in Ealing, Middlesex on 29 January 1950. He had attended the draw of the FA Amateur Cup and had gone on to pay a visit to Vivian Woodward, a famous former player for Spurs, Chelsea and England who had become bedridden. Ralston unfortunately fell ill and died at his bedside.[4] In the magazine of Ralston's old school, Sir Stanley Rous wrote:[4]

As a member of the Council of the Football Association his particular interests lay in amateur football, and both on the International and the Amateur Cup Committee, he was always watching their interests.

There is a photographic portrait of Ralston at the National Portrait Gallery, London.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b The Story Of the London Caledonians Football Club, p. 17
  2. ^ Goodwin, Bob (21 April 2017). The Spurs alphabet. Lulu.com. p. 356. ISBN 978-0954043421. OCLC 1003248287 – via Open WorldCat.
  3. ^ Bedford Modern School (Bedford, England), VIPAN, Herbert Edwin (21 April 1901). A register of the old boys of the Bedford Modern School. Compiled and edited by H.E. Vipan ... Together with a few chapters on its history and institutions. W.J. Robinson. p. 101. OCLC 557698898 – via Open WorldCat.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f The Eagle, The Magazine of Bedford Modern School, Volume XXVII, No. 5, Easter 1950, p. 391
  5. ^ "Watford FC player archive (Q-R), retrieved April 2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Tottenham Hotspur player database, retrieved April 2015".
  7. ^ "Aston Villa Player Database". www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com.
  8. ^ The Times, April 3, 1914, p. 17
  9. ^ "Name Ralston, Andrew Thomson Official Number: F28800 Place of Birth: ..." 21 April 1917 – via The National Archives (UK).
  10. ^ The Times, April 10, 1919. p. 5
  11. ^ The Times, November 28, 1921, p. 15
  12. ^ Amateurs and Professionals in Post-War British Sport. Routledge. 8 April 2014. p. 5. ISBN 9781135307301.
  13. ^ "Isthmian League v. Caribbean XI | Trinidad & Tobago Football History". www.ttfootballhistory.com.
  14. ^ The Guardian, London, Saturday, August 27, 1949. p. 3
  15. ^ The Liverpool Echo, Wednesday, September 28, 1949. p. 6
  16. ^ Western Morning News, Wednesday, December 7, 1949. p. 3
  17. ^ "Andrew Thomson Ralston - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk.
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