Willie Rankin (footballer, born 1895)

For the Dundee and Blackburn Rovers player, see Willie Rankin (footballer, born 1900).

Willie Rankin
Personal information
Full name William Rankin[1]
Date of birth 1895[2][3]
Place of birth Burnbank, Scotland
Date of death 1950 (aged 54–55)
Place of death South Africa
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[4]
Position(s) Inside right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–1916 Burnbank Athletic
1916–1917 Parkhead Juniors
1917–1924 Motherwell 230 (54)
1924–1929 Cowdenbeath 168 (22)
1927 → Peebles Rovers (loan)
1929–1932 Clyde 79 (9)
Montrose
Benoni
International career
1919–1923 Scottish League XI 4 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Rankin was a Scottish professional football who made over 470 appearances in the Scottish Football League's top division for Motherwell, Cowdenbeath and Clyde, playing at inside right.[4][5][6]

He represented the Scottish Football League XI four times[7] and played in two of the annual Home Scots v Anglo-Scots international trial matches, scoring in one,[8][9] but this did not lead to a full cap for Scotland. In 1921 he was a member of the squad sometimes presented as 'Scotland' which toured North America, but this was organised by the Third Lanark club rather than the Scottish Football Association.[10][11][3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Litster was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Statutory registers - Births - Search results, ScotlandsPeople
  3. ^ a b Andy Mitchell (15 March 2013). "Scots on tour in 1921". Scottish Sport History. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Willie Rankin – motherWELLnet". motherWELLnet. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference cowdenbeathfc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Rankin Willie Image 1 Motherwell 1922 – Vintage Footballers". vintagefootballers.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Willie Rankin – Scotland Football League Record from 22 Feb 1919 to 31 Oct 1923 clubs – Motherwell". www.londonhearts.com. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  8. ^ Football. | International Trial, The Glasgow Herald, 31 March 1920
  9. ^ Football | International Trial Match, The Glasgow Herald, 23 March 1921
  10. ^ Neil Morrison (4 January 2018). "British "FA XI" Tours: 1921 "Third Lanark's Scotland XI" - Canada and USA". RSSSF. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  11. ^ "When Third Lanark were Scotland". Before The 'D'...Association Football around the world, 1863-1937. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2020.