John Martis (born 30 March 1940) is a Scottish former 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 made nearly 500 appearances in the

Scottish Football League 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&nbs ...

and was capped once for 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 ...

national side.

Playing career

Martis signed for

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 1957 from local

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., ...

side Royal Albert and became known as one of the "Ancell Babes" under the tutelage of then manager

Bobby Ancell Robert Francis Dudgeon Ancell (16 June 1911 – 5 July 1987) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He played as a Defender (association football)#Full back, left back for St Mirren F.C ...

, alongside players such as Pat Quinn and

Ian St. John John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key me ...

. A solid and uncompromising

centre half 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 remained at Fir Park for twelve seasons before departing for a brief spell in South Africa with

Hellenic FC Hellenic FC is a South African association football club based in Cape Town. They are nicknamed ''The Greek Gods''. History Established in 1958 by Greek South Africans, Hellenic campaigned in the lower amateur leagues of Cape Town. But by the ...

. On his return to Scotland, he joined East Fife, for whom he played for six years before retiring in 1975. A youth international, he won his only full cap for Scotland 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 ...

in a

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 ...

fixture in 1960. On 2 November 2021, it was announced that Martis was to be inducted into the Motherwell F.C. Hall of Fame.

References

External links

*
Motherwellnet - Player archive profile
1940 births Living people Motherwell F.C. players Hellenic F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Scotland men's international footballers Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Men's association football central defenders Footballers from Motherwell Royal Albert F.C. players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-defender-1940s-stub