Robert Glen (16 January 1875 – 16 July 1953) 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 for Renton,

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

and

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 ...

Club career

Glen started his career with his local club Renton. He briefly left them in 1893 to play for

, but returned later that season. He captained Renton in the

1895 Scottish Cup final The 1894–95 Scottish Cup was the 22nd season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by St Bernard's when they beat Renton, 2–1, in the final. Calendar First round *Match Declared Void First round ...

, which they lost 2–1 to Edinburgh club St Bernards. After a brief spell with

, where he was used as a backup for the regular defensive players, Glen joined

in 1898. They finished third in the league in 1899–1900, but a mistake by Glen contributed to a second-round defeat by Hearts in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1901–02, but then went on a prolonged run in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Clyde,

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

, Queen's Park and Rangers sent Hibs to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, which was played against

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 Foot ...

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

(neutral Ibrox was intended to be the venue, but part of its terracing collapsed during a Scotland match there in April). Early in the game, Glen succeeded in protecting goalkeeper

Harry Rennie Henry George Rennie (1 June 1873 – 17 March 1954) was a Scottish football goalkeeper who played for Morton, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Rangers, Kilmarnock and the Scotland national team. Career Born in Greenock, Rennie started his ca ...

. With fifteen minutes remaining,

Andrew McGeachen Andrew McGeachen (born 1882) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward. Career McGeachen began his senior career with Hibernian, playing for the Leith club between 1901 and 1904. He scored the only goal of the 1902 ...

scored the only goal of the match, and Hibs had won the cup. One match report said Glen was the star performer in defence for Hibs, as he would make interceptions "in the nick of time" and would use "trick" plays like

overhead kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick or scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne Ball (association football), ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backwar ...

s to get the ball to safety. A few weeks later he was in the side that defeated the same opposition 6–2 to win the

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup ...

(in that year only, entry was extended to clubs outwith that city to boost the income for the Ibrox Disaster Relief Fund). Glen also helped the club win the

Scottish League championship The Scottish League Championship is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the first formalised national league system within any home nations country. ...

in 1902–03, although he made only three appearances that season due to injury. After spending the best part of nine seasons with Hibs, he played some further games for Renton, by now competing in the minor

Scottish Football Union The Scottish Football Union was a football league competition that existed from 1906 till the outbreak of the First World War. It was formed after the collapse of the Scottish Football Alliance. Initial membership of the Union was: Alloa Athlet ...

competition. Soon afterwards he emigrated with his family to Canada, where he worked as a bricklayer.

International career

Glen made his full international debut for

on 23 March 1895, in a 2–2 draw with

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 ...

at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

. He made two further appearances for Scotland, in a 4–0 win against the same opponents on 21 March 1896, and a 3–0 win against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 3 March 1900. He also played in an unofficial game for Scotland against Ireland on 9 August 1902, a match that also raised funds for victims of the Ibrox Disaster.

Style of play

Glen played as a

left-back 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 ...

, and was known for his strength and the intelligence of his play. At the time of the 1902 Scottish Cup final, he was a favourite player of the Hibs supporters and had been on good form leading up to the final.

References

;Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Glen, Robert 1875 births 1953 deaths Footballers from Renton, West Dunbartonshire Scottish emigrants to Canada Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Scotland men's international footballers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Renton F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players