Daniel Blair (2 February 1905 – 7 March 1985) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who began his senior career in North America before finishing it in England. He also earned eight

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with the Scotland national team.

Early career

Although he was born in

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

, Scotland, Blair began with his career with junior clubs Rasharkin in 1920 and Cullybackey in 1921, while he was a student in Ireland.
He then went on to play in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, with Davonport Albion in 1922. He then moved to Toronto Scottish, and Willys Overland in 1923, before signing with the Providence Clamdiggers of the American Soccer League in 1924.

Return to the UK

After one season, he returned to Scotland where he signed with Parkhead Juniors, shortly before moving to Clyde in April 1925. He spent six seasons with Clyde Record of pre-war Scottish League Players John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012 before transferring to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

of 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 £7,000 on 24 October 1931. Blair played 138 League and Cup games for

. He played 37 times as Villa finished runners up to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the League Championship in 1932–33 and was a member of their team that reached the 1934 FA Cup semi final, where they were heavily beaten by the eventual winner

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. He then joined

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. He made his debut for ''the Tangerines'' in the opening League game of the 1936–37 season, in a 2–1 victory at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on 29 August 1936. He went on to be an ever-present that campaign, starting in all of the club's 42 League games and two

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

games, as the team won promotion from Division Two. He remained with Blackpool until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939. Throughout his whole career he played in 408 League matches and scored two goals, both for Clyde.

International career

Blair made his International debut for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in a 4–2 win over

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at Ibrox in October 1928. He won a total of eight caps for his country. He captained the team against

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in May 1931. He received league honours with the

Glasgow Junior League The Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1895 and 1927.

against the breakaway Intermediate League in 1925, and later on with the senior

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

three times between 1927 and 1928. Selected to represent the

Scottish FA The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to s ...

XI team that toured Canada in 1927, Blair featured in eleven matches in total. He earned further honours with

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in the annual inter-city fixture

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. (via) PTFC History Archive.

Achievements

Clyde *

Scottish Division Two The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...

promotion: 1925–26 *

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...

winner: 1925–26 Aston Villa *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

runner-up: 1932–33 Blackpool *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

promotion: 1936–37 *

Lancashire Senior Cup The Lancashire County Football Association Cup (commonly known as the Lancashire Senior Cup) is an association football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Footbal ...

winner: 1936–37 Scotland *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

winner: 1928–29 **Runner-up: 1931–32

References

External links