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Personal
Fullname: John Devlin
aka: –
Born: est 1878 (TBC, see CGS Forum)
Died: […] (TBC, see CGS Forum)
Birthplace: (TBC, see CGS Forum)
Signed: March 1895 (from Mossend Celtic)
Left: Aug 1895 (to Airdrie)
Position: Inside-Right
Debut: Celtic 4-0 Leith Athletic, League, 16 Mar 1895 (and scored one goal)
Internationals: none
Biog
Signed from Mossend Celtic in March 1895, John Devlin was an inside-right. He was signed up with Celtic for his trial just one week later than his brother who had also similarly signed up with Celtic (James Devlin).
He scored on his debut – a 4-0 home league win over Leith Athletic on 16th March 1895 – in a Celtic team which his brother James Devlin also played for the Bhoys. Good fortune for John Devlin as he scored one of the goals so a memorable debut. The game was marred by a horrendous injury to Leith player John Marshall (a leg break). The break was said to be so bad that the whole south stand winced.
His second – and final – Celtic league appearance came in a 1-1 draw in a league match at Rangers a week later. Sadly his brother didn’t get to play in this match with him. It was to be the end of the road for both at Celtic.
He went on to join Airdrie in August 1895. Neither he nor his brother sadly made it at Celtic, and both unfortunately missed out on league title medals as Celtic won the league title the season before & after but not in 1894/95.
He was to go on and have spells across various teams including Tottenham Hotspur & Millwall.
At Spurs, John Devlin was a regular player for a whole season, only missing a few end season matches for “acts of insubordination“. He was signed for Spurs for a further season but then suspended when he was found out to have also signed for Millwall, Spurs biggest rival at that time. Spurs at this time were not one of the premier teams in England as they were to become, and actually playing in a lower tier. In time, it was resolved with John Devlin moving to Millwall in Oct 1897, but after only a few months he was suspended in February 1898 having made just 10 appearances, and returned home.
Neither he nor his brother had overall a successful time at the London football clubs, his brother was on Arsenal’s books for a season.
He ended up back up north in time playing alongside his brother at Third Lanark & Albion Rovers.
Later he & his brother joined the Army in December 1899, undergoing training at Maryhill barracks with the Scottish Rifles, and then fought in the tragic Boer War in South Africa. Both he and his brother thankfully survived that war, and on their return home they went on to return to play again for Albion Rovers.
Wrapped up his playing career with Nithsdale & Lanesmark, retiring from play in 1907.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1895 | 2 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 2 |
| Goals: | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
Honours with Celtic
none
Pictures
Forums
Notes
- Doubtful Possible picture of this John Devlin [but is named James Devlin], likely a different person: https://www.vintagefootballers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DSC03756-200×400.jpg
Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser 29 June 1901
| James Devlin | Season |
John Devlin |
| Blackstoun R | ||
| Celtic | 1890/91 | |
| Abercorn | Mossend Celtic | |
| Paisley Celtic | 1894/95 | Celtic |
| Celtic | 1895/96 | Airdrie |
| Royal Albert | Chorley | |
| Chorley | ||
| Dundee | 1896/97 | Tottenham H |
| Sunderland | ||
| Woolwich Arsenal | 1897/98 | Millwall |
| Airdrie | 1897/98 | |
| Third Lanark | 1898/99 | Third Lanark |
| Albion Rovers | Albion Rovers | |
| Army | Army | |
| Albion Rovers | 1901/02+ | Albion Rovers |
| Nithsdale W | ||
| Lanesmark |
Scottish Referee-Monday 08 June 1896
Scottish Referee 12 January 1900
From Spurs Site (not to be relied upon):
http://archive.mehstg.com/fact_devlin.htm
[Note from TheCelticWiki: We don’t believe the details for post-Millwall in this article by the Spurs site is correct, and the name’s wrong etc or likely all mixed up with other person so best not relied on.
At this time they played in the Southern League from 1896 until 1908, when they were elected to the Football League Second Division, so many of their stats seem to not start until much later than John Devlin’s time.]
Spurs signed James Devlin from Airdrie at the same time as Bill Crump, who he had played alongside at Hereford Thistle on loan the year previously. The midfielder had a turbulent time off the pitch during his one season with Tottenham, albeit he was a consistent performer on it.
Starting his playing days with Dundee, he moved to Airdrie and then went on the previous season to signing on loan with Hereford Thistle. Playing at half back, he impressed during the first three-quarters of the season, but he, along with Miliken, McElaney and Wilson were suspended because of what was referred to as “insubordination”, thus missing the run-in at the end of the campaign.
Despite this, Spurs offered a new deal for another season, but Tottenham once more suspended the player, because they had found out that he had signed a deal with rivals Millwall Athletic. The suspension was to last all season, but the matter was resolved when he was transferred to Millwall during October 1897. The whole affair had been unsavoury, but ultimately quite pointless, as he only played a few games for the South London club before he left for Sunderland, returning shortly after to sign for Woolwich Arsenal. Illness then hampered his career, as he only got to play once for the South London side before heading home for Airdrie to finish his career in Scotland.
