Ally Shewan (born 5 August 1940) is a Scottish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

.Ally Shewan
AFC Heritage Trust He joined

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, his only club at the professional level, in 1960, and was almost ever-present from 1963 until his departure in 1969. He featured on the losing side in the 1967 Scottish Cup Final. In the summer of 1967, Aberdeen came to America, playing as the

Washington Whips The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association ( USA). The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington Whips were the Aberdeen F.C. from Scotland. Th ...

in the fledgling

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

. The Whips won the Eastern Division and met the Los Angeles Wolves (actually

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

) in the

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

. In the 122nd minute of extra time with the match tied 5–5, Shewan scored an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

, giving Los Angeles a 6–5 win and the title. After leaving Aberdeen Shewan spent time in Australia then played for, and later managed,

Elgin City Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray. Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...

, when they played in the Highland Football League. Shewan, described as a "no-nonsense

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

", is a member of Aberdeen Football Club's Hall of Fame, inducted in 2004.

References

*Harry Reid (2005), "The Final Whistle?", Birlinn, 1940 births Living people Association football fullbacks People from Turriff Footballers from Aberdeenshire Scottish footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Elgin City F.C. players Washington Whips players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Elgin City F.C. managers Highland Football League players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate footballers {{Scotland-footy-defender-1940s-stub