Archibald McAlo McLeod (15 May 1908 – 14 November 1990) was a Scottish

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 ...

who played in the

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

position.

Career

McLeod signed for

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been mem ...

from

Parkhead Juniors Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necropo ...

(where he had been capped for the Scotland Juniors team) in August 1933. He was mainly a backup at

Firhill Firhill Stadium is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick Thistle since 1909. The stadium is commonly referred to as sim ...

, making three appearances in the 1933–34 Scottish First Division (scoring twice against

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a to ...

), plus matches for the reserves in the

Scottish Football Alliance The Scottish Football Alliance was a football league football structure set up in Scotland in competition with the Scottish Football League. Its success in the early years of professional football in both England and Scotland made Alliance the bas ...

before leaving for Northern Ireland to further his career, joining

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. In the 1934–35 Irish League season he was the top goalscorer for Derry, netting 57 times, a record that still stands today. That season he also helped the team to their first trophy with a Dunville Cup triumph, which they repeated in 1937. An injury ended his football career in 1938 and he returned home to

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

where he worked as a machinist with

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...

shipbuilders.

Personal life

McLeod was the grandson of

cotter Cotter may refer to: * Cotter pin (disambiguation), a pin or wedge used to fix parts rigidly together * Cotter (farmer), the Scots term for a peasant farmer formerly in the Scottish highlands * Cotter (surname), a surname (including a list of peopl ...

s from the Isle of Mull who moved south to

due to the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resul ...

. While playing for Derry City, he married Nellie Blair, daughter of a prominent local Protestant family, in 1938 and had a daughter Helen before moving back to Scotland. Helen (died in 2007) was married to retired

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

minister and former

Moderator Moderator may refer to: Government *Moderator (town official), elected official who presides over the Town Meeting form of government Internet *Internet forum#Moderators, Internet forum moderator, a person given special authority to enforce the ...

Alexander "Sandy" McDonald (1937–2016) and they had three children, the youngest of whom is actor

David Tennant David John Tennant ('' né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the ...

References

1908 births 1990 deaths Footballers from Glasgow Year of death missing Scottish footballers Derry City F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Scottish Football League players Association football forwards Parkhead F.C. players Scotland junior international footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players {{Scotland-footy-forward-1900s-stub