William Mack Buchanan (29 July 1924 – 14 June 1999) was a Scottish professional

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 lea ...

who played as a full back in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

and Barrow. Buchanan was born in

Tannochside Tannochside is a settlement southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. Although historically considered part of Uddingston, it lies within a separate local authority area: Tannochside is contained within the boundaries of North Lanarkshire council (situate ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

. He played football for

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

club Larkhall Thistle during the Second World War before joining

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in 1944, but his only first-team appearance was in the

1946–47 Scottish League Cup The 1946–47 Scottish League Cup was the inaugural staging of Scotland's second most prestigious football knockout competition. The competition was won by Rangers, who defeated Aberdeen 4–0 in the Final. The tournament became an annual compet ...

, and he left for England in 1949. He signed for

and played in the first nine league matches of the season before moving on again, together with

Billy Gordon William John Gordon ( – 25 November 2022) was an Indigenous Australian politician. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2015 to 2017, representing the electorate of Cook. Career Hailing from Innisfail, Queensland, Gor ...

and a "substantial" fee, to another

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club, Barrow, in exchange for Alex McIntosh. Buchanan settled at Barrow, and over the next six-and-a-half seasons he made 242 league appearances, after which he played for

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

club

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

. Buchanan died in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, in 1999 at the age of 74.

References

1924 births 1999 deaths Footballers from North Lanarkshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Larkhall Thistle F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players English Football League players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-defender-1920s-stub