John McNab (17 April 1894 – 2 January 1949) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a

right half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, predominantly for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, during the period between the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

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 ...

Playing career

Club

Born in

Cleland Cleland may refer to: Places * Cleland, South Australia, a suburb ** Cleland National Park, a protected area in South Australia *** Cleland Wildlife Park, a zoo within the area of Cleland National Park * Cleland, North Lanarkshire Cleland ...

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 ...

, McNab played for

Bellshill Athletic Bellshill Athletic Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish football (soccer), football club based in the town of Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. It plays in the . History The history of the club can be traced back as far as 1897 when Bellshill Ath ...

before being signed by

in November 1919. He made his debut in a 0–0 draw with bitter rivals

Man United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, th ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

in a

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

fixture on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

1920; he had to wait until 15 April 1922 to open his account for the ''Reds'', again it was at Anfield and the opponents were

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, his 73rd-minute strike was the fourth goal of the 5–1 defeat of the ''Bluebirds''. McNab, a wing-half, struggled to break into the starting line-up during his first two seasons at Liverpool; he made just three appearances in this spell. It wasn't until ten games into the 1921–22 campaign that McNab nailed a permanent role in manager

David Ashworth David George Ashworth (2 June 1867 – 1947) was an English football referee and manager. He became the first manager of Oldham Athletic in 1906, spending eight successful years there before moving on to manage Stockport County in 1914 and ...

's plans but only after

Jack Bamber John Bamber (11 April 1895 – 26 May 1973) was an English footballer who played as a half back for Liverpool, Leicester City, Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, ...

and Francis Checkland had started the first fixtures; he took his chance well and only missed four of the remaining matches in the first of the back-to-back title winning seasons. McNab added a second winner's medal to his collection when he missed just tyree matches of the 1922–23 season. McNab remained a stalwart of the Reds backline for four more years when he was allowed to leave for

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: Central London, N ...

club

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in June 1928 at the age of 34. McNab had appeared in a red shirt 222 times, exactly 200 in the league, scoring 6 goals, all of which were in the league. He played regularly for QPR for two years before retiring. He later ran a hotel in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

International

McNab was picked 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 ...

once, in a British Championship match against

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 ...

on 17 March 1923. The game was played at

Love Street "Love Street" is a song performed by the American rock band the Doors. Sequenced as the second album track on ''Waiting for the Sun'' (1968), its lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison and as with other songs, it was dedicated to his gir ...

, Paisley and finished in a 2–0 victory for the Scots.

Personal life

His younger brother

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

was also a footballer who played for clubs including

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. The siblings faced each other when Fulham beat Liverpool 3–1 in the

1925–26 FA Cup The 1925–26 FA Cup was the 51st staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Bolton Wanderers won the competition for the second time, beating Manchester City 1–0 ...

Fourth Round; they were later in opposition in the

Third Division South The Third Division South 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 North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

after Jock joined Queens Park Rangers.

Honours

;Liverpool *

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 ...

: winner 1921–22, 1922–23

References

External links

Official Liverpool FC website profile

Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcnab, Jock 1894 births 1949 deaths People from Cleland, North Lanarkshire Liverpool F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Bellshill Athletic F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Men's association football wing halves Footballers from North Lanarkshire English Football League players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen