| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Robert Simpson | ||
| Date of birth | 25 December 1885 | ||
| Place of birth | Pendleton, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 4 January 1959(1959-01-04) (aged 73) | ||
| Place of death | Falkirk, Scotland | ||
| Position | Outside right | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| – | Grange Rovers | ||
| – | Laurieston Villa | ||
| 1905–1911 | Falkirk | 176 | (100) |
| 1911–1919 | Blackburn Rovers | 151 | (16) |
| 1916–1919 | →Falkirk (loan) | 91 | (15) |
| – | Falkirk Amateurs | ||
| – | Falkirk Orient | ||
| Total | 418 | (131) | |
| International career | |||
| 1910 | Scottish League XI | 1 | (0) |
| 1911–1914 | Football League XI | ||
| 1911–1914 | England | 8 | (1) |
| 1916–1917 | Scottish League (wartime) | 3 | (1) |
| 1918 | England (wartime) | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Robert Simpson (25 December 1885 – 4 January 1959) was afootballer who played as anoutside right in the 1900s and 1910s.[2][3]
Simpson's footballing career began with Laurieston Villa, and after a trial withRangers, he signed forFalkirk in 1905.[2] The club finished runners-up in theScottish Football League twice during his six-year spell (1907–08 and1909–10), and he scored over 100 league goals, sometimes playing atcentre forward, including 32 from 33 appearances in 1907–08, the highest total in the country.[4]
In January 1911, Simpson moved toBlackburn Rovers for a fee of £1800, a record fee received by a Scottish club.[5] Whilst he was atEwood Park, they won theFootball League First Division title in1911–12 and1913–14.[1] He made a total of 151Football League appearances for Blackburn, scoring 16 goals.[2]
After a comeback to senior football with Falkirk duringWorld War I (when all official English football was suspended but the Scottish League continued), this being fairly unsuccessful due to the enduring effects of kicks from opponents during his peak years, he finally saw out his final playing years with Falkirk Amateurs, then Falkirk Orient in theFalkirk Wednesday Shopkeepers League.[5] At Falkirk he played a total of 269 Scottish League matches, including the wartime as a 'guest player', scoring 116 goals.[5]
Simpson represented theScottish League in 1910 while he was a Falkirk player.[6]
He made his full international debut forEngland on 11 February 1911 againstIreland, weeks after joining Blackburn[7] (theFootball Association had been aware of him at Falkirk but did not want to select a player based in Scotland, and only his birthplace came into consideration at that time, so he was ineligible forScotland despite his upbringing and parentage). Simpson made a total of eight appearances for England, participating in victoriousBritish Home Championship tournaments of1910–11 and1912–13, with his lastcap coming on 16 March 1914 againstWales.[8]
He also appeared for theFootball League XI,[9][10] played for the 'Anglo-Scots' in a wartime fundraising match in 1917,[11] and featured for England against Scotland in a 1918 charity match.[12][13]
Simpson was born inPendleton,Lancashire,[2] to Scottish parents who returned to work in their home town ofFalkirk within months of his birth.[5] Several family members (includingHarry Simpson) were also footballers at local teams, and he was related to theAustralian international cricketerBob Simpson.[5]
After his football career, he settled in Falkirk, running a public house in the town; he died in 1959 and is interred in Falkirk Cemetery.[14]
