Drew Rutherford (4 October 1953 – 14 December 2005) was a professional footballer who played most of his career for

St Johnstone F.C. St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

Although

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

-born, Rutherford lived most of his life in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

and started his professional career at East Fife. After four years with the

Methil Methil () is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland. Methil has ancient origins: two Bronze Age cemeteries have been discovered which date the settlement as over 8,000 years old. The town was first recorded as "Methkil" in 1207, and belonged to ...

club, he signed for St Johnstone which was where he remained for most of his playing days. Playing in the centre of defence for St Johnstone over a span of nine seasons, he set a record for most appearances. This record stood until 2009, when it was surpassed by goalkeeper Alan Main. Rutherford was also club captain and a popular player with the club's supporters. His time at

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

began in February 1977 and he made a total of 342 appearances (plus five as a substitute) before leaving the club in May 1985. Despite being a defender, he managed 18 goals for St Johnstone. After leaving St Johnstone he had a short spell with another Fife club,

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

, before retiring from the game. Rutherford was held in such high regard by St Johnstone fans that, despite twenty years having passed since his time at the club, a benefit night was organised to raise funds after hearing of his illness. Although Rutherford himself was too ill to attend, his family was represented along with many of his former teammates. Rutherford died in 2005 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

References

Rutherford's obituary from St Johnstone F.C. official website
* ''Who's Who of St. Johnstone 1946 to 1992.'' Reference book compiled by Jim Slater

External links

* 1953 births 2005 deaths Scottish men's footballers St Johnstone F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Deaths from cancer in Scotland Footballers from Edinburgh Men's association football central defenders Scottish Football League players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-defender-1950s-stub