John Shaw McMillan (born 14 April 1937) is a Scottish

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

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

and

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. In 1957 McMillan joined

, as an amateur, He caught the eye by hitting 10 goals in 30 matches for the Sons, and on 3 February 1958 he played in a Scottish Amateur XI trial match against his home club Dumbarton in a 2–2 draw, scoring one of the goals. At the time he was working at the

Royal Naval Torpedo Factory, Alexandria The Argyll Motor Works, currently known as Lomond Galleries, is a former car factory in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was opened in 1906 by Argyll Motors Ltd, at the time the largest producer of cars in Scotland. After the Argy ...

and still had three months of his apprenticeship to go. He then joined

where he stay for four seasons, but it was difficult for him to make the first team. He was doing his national service at the time and played for the RAF team. He then joined

McMillan scored on his debut in a 1–1 draw against Oldham. Family reasons then took McMillan back to Wales, he went to

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

briefly, but his wife Margaret wanted to be closer to her mother in

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 ...

and he then joined Barry Town of the Southern League. One of the reasons he joined Barry Town was he would be able to get a job with the shipping repair firm at

Barry Docks Barry Docks () is a port facility in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, a few miles southwest of Cardiff on the north shore of the Bristol Channel. The docks were opened in 1889 by David Davies and John Cory as an alternative to the co ...

owned by the family of John Bailey, the club's chairman at the time. He later played for

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

before dropping down into the Welsh Leagues. Jack, as he was known by all, was also an incredibly accomplished golfer and a lifelong member a
Dinas Powis Golf Club
Well into his eighties, McMillan continued to live in the Vale of Glamorgan Sunday Post July 2017 and passed away in May 2025.

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* 1937 births Scottish men's footballers Dumbarton F.C. players Scottish Football League players Living people Cardiff City F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football wingers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1930s-stub