John Rae Aird (18 December 1926 – 14 June 2021) was a

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 for both the

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 ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

national sides.

Life and career

Born in Glencraig,

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 ...

, Aird started his professional career with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, whom he joined from

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 ...

junior side Jeanfield Swifts in 1948. A feisty but consistent

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, he earned international recognition towards the end of his seven-season spell at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...

, making his Scotland debut against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in May 1954, at the age of 28. He was then selected in the squad for the upcoming World Cup finals and was one of only 13 players who actually travelled to Switzerland, the SFA opting not to use the full complement of 22 permitted. He played in both matches at the finals as Scotland capitulated in the first round, losing to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(1–0) and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

(7–0). The following year, Aird left Burnley and

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to Gisborne in New Zealand. There he played for Eastern Union FC, eventually earning selection for the national side. Aird played two full internationals for New Zealand in the space of a week in 1958, both matches against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, with him scoring for New Zealand in a 3–2 defeat in the first game, and then scoring an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

in a 2–2 draw a week later. He then moved to Australia in 1959, playing for and latterly coaching Sydney Hakoah. Aird returned briefly to Gisborne in 1960 from Sydney and played in non-competitive matches for Eastern Union. Unable to get a clearance from

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

to transfer back to Eastern Union, Aird then took a renewed contract from Sydney Hakoah in January 1961, in which he was offered £15/week as a part-time player, £6/week as coach, further employment opportunities, fares for his family back to Sydney, and a retainer of £5/week in the off-season. Jock Aird died in June 2021 at the age of 94.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aird, Jock 1926 births 2021 deaths 1954 FIFA World Cup players Burnley F.C. players Dual internationalists (men's football) Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Men's association football fullbacks New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers Footballers from Fife Sportspeople from Gisborne, New Zealand Scotland men's B international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Scottish men's footballers Scottish emigrants to New Zealand English Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Gisborne City AFC players Hakoah Sydney City East FC players Jeanfield Swifts F.C. players 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen

Life and career

See also

References

External links