John Weir (10 January 1865 – 11 January 1946) was a Scottish footballer who played as a half-back.
Career Weir initially played club football in Glasgow for Third Lanark,The Blacksmith of Crossmyloof, Tony Onslow, ToffeeWeb, 4 November 2014 and made one appearance for Scotland in February 1887;(Scotland player) John Weir, London Hearts Supporters ClubSaturday's Football. International Match., The Glasgow Herald, 21 February 1887 he took part in a trial the following month but had no further international recognition.
In around August 1887 he moved south to England, initially joining Bootle before soon being tempted to sign for Everton along with another former Third Lanark player Robert Izatt, much to the annoyance of Bootle.Liverpool Football Going over to the Enemy, Football Fields (Liverpool Daily Post), 22 October 1887, via Everton Independent Research Data At the same time Everton eliminated Bolton Wanderers from the 1887–88 FA Cup but following a protest were found to have several professionals in their ranks – against the rules of the time – and these players, including Weir (who by then had been injured in a match against Bootle), Izatt and other Scotsmen, had their registrations suspended while Everton were disqualified from the competition.Everton Notes, The Liverpool Mercury, 12 December 1887, via Everton Independent Research Data
Most of the Scottish players left the area but Weir remained on Merseyside, was re-instated and played for the club in 16 of their 22 fixtures in the first season of the Football League in 1888–89 (Everton finished eighth of twelve teams).1888-1889 Summary [listed as 'James Weir'], Everton Results His elder brother Charles, a former Third Lanark teammate, featured for the Toffees reserve team for the latter part of the season (joining after playing against them in a friendly) but was not retained.
Weir played in the first three matches of the next campaign1889-1890 Summary [listed as 'James Weir'], Everton Results but then suffered a badly broken arm which caused him to miss the rest of the season and also impacted his trade as blacksmith. He appeared the following April in the Liverpool Senior Cup final, a victory over his old club Bootle, but was then released by the club. He spent a season with non-league High Park (Southport) then served Rossendale of the Lancashire League as player-manager for four seasons, the highlight of his time there being a 7–1 victory over local rivals Bury in the early rounds of the 1892–93 FA Cup. His family settled in the area, where he died in 1946.J. Weir, Third Lanark Everton and Scotland 1887, ScottishLeague.net, 4 March 2014
Notes
References