John Ballantyne (27 October 1899 – 1977) was 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 professionally as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

in Scotland, England and the United States. Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Ballantyne began his senior career with

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

in 1921 after time in the

junior leagues The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...

with Ashfield. In 1924, after signing a new one-season contract with Thistle including a signing bonus, he moved to the United States where he signed with the

Boston Soccer Club The Boston Soccer Club was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Boston Bears for the Fall 1929 ASL season. In 1925, the ASL and the St. Louis Soccer League (SLSL) boycotted the National Challenge Cup, now known as t ...

of the American Soccer League. This nearly led to the suspension of the

United States Football Association The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer at ...

, an action prevented by stronger agreements between

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 ...

member associations on player transfer rules. Ballantyne spent four seasons with Boston before returning to Thistle in 1929. He stayed with the ''Jags'' (featuring on the losing side in the replayed

1930 Scottish Cup Final The 1929–30 Scottish Cup was the 52nd staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers who defeated Partick Thistle in the replayed final. Fourth round Semi-finals ---- Final Replay ---- ...

) until 1935 at which point he was briefly loaned to

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, before moving to

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 ...

. He finished his career with the

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 in 1937. His younger brothers Willie aka 'Red' and

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People *Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (surname), a list of surnames * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwrit ...

were also footballers who featured for clubs in Scotland and the United States.Ballantyne, Johnny 1920-21 & 1928-29
Partick Thistle History Archive. Retrieved 12 April 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballantyne, Johnny 1899 births 1977 deaths Date of death missing American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Boston Soccer Club players Falkirk F.C. players Ashfield F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Partick Thistle F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Men's association football inside forwards Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers from Glasgow Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Scottish sportsmen