Patrick McCabe Buckley (31 January 1925 – 4 November 2008) 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 ...
St Johnstone
St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...
,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...
and the
Scotland national team
The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...
.
Life and career
Buckley, who was renowned for his speed, started his career with Junior club Bo'ness United. He was at the centre of a transfer dispute in 1948, when both
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foo ...
and St Johnstone claimed to have signed him. The situation was eventually resolved in St Johnstone's favour and Buckley spent the next four seasons with the
Perth
Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...
side.
Buckley joined Aberdeen in a £7,500 transfer in April 1952 (£ today) and it is for his time with the ''Dons'' for which he is best known. He helped them to the League championship in 1954–55 and the 1955 League Cup success. He also played in two
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1953 and 1954, both of which were lost. He retired due to a serious
knee
In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the human leg, leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest join ...
injury in 1957 but briefly returned to the game with Highland League side Caledonian the following year.
Buckley was
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...
three times by Scotland, making his debut in a 1–0 win over
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
in 1954. Initially selected in the squad for the
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...
, injury saw him replaced by club colleague George Hamilton. He scored his only Scotland goal against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
in a 1–0 win upon his return to fitness in October later that year.
Upon his death in November 2008, the Aberdeen players wore black armbands to commemorate his playing for the club, against St Mirren on 12 November 2008.
His son, Pat, was also a professional footballer.
Career statistics
Club
International
''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Buckley goal''