John May (footballer, born 1878)

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Johnny May
Personal information
Full name John May
Date of birth (1878-04-15)15 April 1878
Place of birth Dykehead, Scotland
Date of death 25 July 1933(1933-07-25) (aged 55)
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland[1]
Position(s) Wing half
Youth career
Rising Blues[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1895–1896 Bo'ness
1896–1897 Wishaw Thistle 179 (17)
1897–1898 Abercorn 18 (2)
1898–1904 Derby County 179 (17)
1904–1910 Rangers 129 (13)
1910–1915 Morton 118 (5)
Total 444 (37)
International career
1906–1909 Scotland 5 (0)
1906–1908[2] Scottish League XI 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John May (15 April 1878 – 25 July 1933) was a Scottish footballer who played for Abercorn, Derby County, Rangers, Morton and Scotland.

Football career[edit]

Club[edit]

May played as a left half-back (comparable to a modern midfielder) and started his career at Bo'ness followed by Wishaw Thistle and Paisley club Abercorn,[1] before signing for Derby County. Whilst there he played in two losing FA Cup finals (1899 and 1903).[3] May made 179 league appearances for Derby, scoring 17 goals.[4]

He joined Rangers in May 1904 and went on to play 148 times in the Scottish Football League and Scottish Cup,[5] however, his spell at the club coincided almost exactly with a period when rivals Celtic were dominant, and May did not claim a winner's medal in either of the major competitions before he moved on to Morton in 1910.[6][1]

International[edit]

May won five international caps for Scotland between 1906 and 1909.[7]

Personal life[edit]

His younger brother Hugh was also a footballer who made a small number of appearances for both Rangers and Derby.[1]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Mitchell, Andy (2021). The men who made Scotland: The definitive Who's Who of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872-1939. Amazon. ISBN 9798513846642.
  2. ^ (SFL player) John May, London Hearts Supporters Club
  3. ^ Derby County: The Story of a football club (abridged sample, page 21), Anton Rippon, 2013, ISBN 978-0992677909
  4. ^ John May at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  5. ^ (Rangers player) May, John, FitbaStats
  6. ^ John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ John May at the Scottish Football Association