Samuel Shearer (born 29 December 1883) 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 le ...

who played at

inside-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

in the early 20th century.

Football career

Shearer was born in Coylton in

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

and started his football career in Scottish Junior Football with

Trabboch Trabboch is a hamlet in East Ayrshire, Scotland. Built as a miners village in the 1880s, it was owned and leased by Wm. Baird & Co., Ltd. and at one time had 94 dwellings. The miners rows stood, until demolition in 1969, on the Stair and Littlemill ...

before being invited for a trial at

in the summer of 1908. He showed "''considerable promise''" in the trial matches and was rewarded with a professional contract. He made his debut for the "Saints" in the opening match of the 1908–09 Southern League season, a 3–1 draw at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, but after four appearances, he lost his place to Frank Jordan in mid-September. Described as "''naturally skillful''", Shearer was able to keep the ball close to his feet and as a result incurred regular kicks and bruises to his ankles, but his individuality was never properly exploited by his team-mates. For the remainder of the season, Shearer was in-and-out of the side making a total of eleven appearances, mainly at

inside-left Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

, but also at inside-right and on the

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

. In the summer of 1909, Saints signed

Sam Brittleton Samuel Brittleton (17 June 1885 – 4 October 1951) was an English footballer who played at inside-left for various clubs in the 1900s. He was the brother of England international Tom Brittleton. Football career Brittleton was born in Winsford ...

who took over at inside-left, before losing out in turn to Bob Carter. Shearer was then third-choice for the inside-left berth, and it was only in the last month of the season that he made a sustained run in the side with five first-team appearances. He returned to Scotland in the summer of 1910 to join Nithsdale Wanderers of

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

, before returning to England with

in December 1912. After making only one league appearance for Bradford, Shearer retired in 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearer, Sam 1883 births Footballers from South Ayrshire Scottish footballers Association football forwards Nithsdale Wanderers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players 1971 deaths