Peter Stewart McKennan (16 July 1918 – 28 September 1991) was a Scottish 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 played 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 the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

leagues, most notably for

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 ...

, for whom he scored 113 goals in 198 appearances in all competitions. McKennan represented the

and Irish League representative teams and is a member of the Partick Thistle Hall of Fame. He was nicknamed "Ma Ba" ("my ball"), due to his desire to receive the ball into feet and dictate play.

Club career

, McKennan began his senior career with

Scottish League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the o ...

club

in 1934 and though his career was interrupted by

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 ...

, he remained with the club through the war. He made nearly 200 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 113 goals and was posthumously inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. McKennan moved south of the border to join

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

(for whom he had guested during the war) for a £10,650 fee in October 1947. McKennan went on to play for

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

clubs

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and scored 63 goals in 171 appearances, before moving to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in 1954, where he played out two injury-ravaged seasons as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

. As of December 2018, McKennan is the third of three Brentford players to register five goals in a single league match.

International career

After making appearances for the

and Irish League representative teams, McKennan scored on his solitary appearance 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 ...

in a 3–2 win over an Irish XI on 28 April 1940.

Personal life

McKennan served in the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...

during the

and saw action as a Command Sergeant-Major on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. He was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

Career statistics

Honours

As a player

Oldham Athletic *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

: 1952–53

As a manager

Coleraine *

North West Senior Cup The North West Senior Cup or North West Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North West of Ireland Football Association. Senior and intermediate teams from the North West FA's jurisdiction (which covers County Londo ...

: 1954–55, 1955–56

As an individual

Hall of Fame

References

External links

*
Peter McKennan
at ptfc.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Mckennan, Peter 1918 births 1991 deaths Scottish men's footballers Partick Thistle F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Men's association football inside forwards Men's association football player-managers Footballers from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Whitburn F.C. players Brentford F.C. wartime guest players Chelsea F.C. wartime guest players Raith Rovers F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. wartime guest players Coleraine F.C. players Coleraine F.C. managers NIFL Premiership managers Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish football managers Scotland men's wartime international footballers British Army personnel of World War II Linfield F.C. wartime guest players Glentoran F.C. wartime guest players British Army soldiers Royal Welch Fusiliers soldiers NIFL Premiership players