5'9.5" 12st 3lb.
b. Dunnichen 29 October 1886
d. Anfield 8 November 1919
 

Debut  16 November 1889 (23y 27d)  
CAREER: St Helena (Arbroath);Arbroath;Blackburn Rovers Oct'89-Nov'89 (£26);Arbroath;Sunderland Sep'90[417];Liverpool Aug'04-May'08[54];St Helens Recs '08.
INTERNATIONALS   Scotland  5 apps
’87 v Ire.’89 v Ire.’96 v Eng.’99 v Eng.’03 v Eng.
HONOURS FL Ch (Sunderland) ’92,’93,’95,’02.2 Div Ch (Liverpool) ’05.
 

FL    1 app
Minutes per goal  90
Longest unbeaten 80m First conceded 80m
Most goals one game   1

Signed for 25 guineas from Arbroath he played just one game for the club, appeared to take a hearty dislike to the town and fled back to Scotland the same night. Subsequently it transpired that he had been awaiting a letter offering him a job as an insurance salesman back in Arbroath and the Rovers had kept it from him until he had played for them. He later regretted his precipitous actions and asked if he could return but the Rovers were unwilling to take another chance and refused. It was their turn to regret because he signed for Sunderland, played more than 400 league games and became a legend as an exciting, agile goalkeeper. A man with some vanity he went bald early and always turned out with a cap held on with elastic to disguise the fact. After four championship medals with Sunderland, he went to Liverpool and gained a Second Division championship medal. When at Sunderland, he lived in Monkwearmouth, where he worked as a time keeper. After football he resumed work as an insurance agent, although he had originally trained as a baker. He died in Lancashire, the victim of the Spanish flu epidemic that swept the country.