| Jack Angus |
 John William Angus was born on Tuesday, 1st December, 1868, in Glasgow. The forward was a guest for Thistle in September, 1893, whilst a Southampton St Mary's player. Aged 24, he made his only appearance on Saturday, 30th September, 1893, in a 3-2 defeat away to Clyde in the SFL Second Division. That day, Jack became a member of our scoring debutant's club. His club-list included Newcastle West End, Pollokshields Athletic, Kelvinside Athletic, Third Lanark, Everton, Gainsborough Trinity, Gorton Villa, Halliwell, West Manchester, Ardwick, Stockport County, Southampton St Mary's, Partick Thistle and Fulham. Jack possibly died in 1933, in London, aged 64 or 65. * |
 The son of Joseph Angus (tailor foreman) and Jean Davidson Angus (née Irvine) who were married in September 1866 in Glasgow. Jack was a bit of a wanderer not only in his footballing career, but in life in general. A mechanical engineer to trade, his sailing travels took him to widespread outposts such as Italy, Canada and China! In footballing terms, he was a left-sided forward, and, although it's likely that he started out playing at some level in Glasgow, we've been unable to establish any club-link. We do know that his sense of adventure kicked in early, as the 17-year-old Jack landed in Tyneside in the springtime of 1886, where he played with Newcastle West End. The teenager was prominent in seasons 1886-87 and 1887-88, scoring over 30 goals. He was a dangerous attacker, grabbing the goal which defeated Sunderland in the FA Cup in November 1886, and once hit the net on four occasions as West End registered their record victory of 15-0 over North Eastern in February 1888. Twice Jack was a runner-up in the Northumberland Senior Cup final, then scored as the trophy was secured in 1888 against Shankhouse. He was good enough to represent Northumberland and the Newcastle & District sides. Returning to Glasgow, he featured with Pollokshields Athletic and Kelvinside Athletic, and a Scottish Cup tie against Third Lanark with the latter resulted in a move to Cathkin Park. However, before long, a local scout alerted Everton to his talents, and he was lured away to Merseyside towards the end of 1888. Jack was in and out of their Football League line-up (5 appearances) for half-a-season before switching again to Tyneside in the close-season of 1889. During that summer, he signed transfer forms for two clubs at the same time – Gainsborough and once more for West End – being handed a one month's suspension by the FA for doing so. After his second stint at St. James’ Park, Jack played for a number of clubs in the Lancashire Combination - Gainsborough Trinity, Gorton Villa, Halliwell & West Manchester - whilst working as a machine fitter in the county. At West Manchester, he played alongside a former team-mate on Tyneside, Tom Nicholson. In the springtime of 1892, Jack signed for Ardwick (later renamed Manchester City) where he made some history by scoring in their first-ever League match, a 7-0 win over Bootle on 3rd September, 1892. Before the season was out, he transferred his services over to Stockport County, but he never settled there either, and, by the end of the season, he had landed on the south coast of England with the soon-to-be wage-paying professionals, St Mary's (later renamed Southampton). Whether visiting or not we cannot say, but Jack was back in Glasgow in late September 1893 and guested for Partick Thistle in a League match against Clyde (only Thistle's third-ever SFL game) in front of 5,000 at Barrowfield Park. Jack, playing on the left wing on the day, made a good impression and put the visitors ahead in the first half, as described in the Herald: “Thistle’s forwards stuck well together, and after some determined play Angus sent in a swift shot from the wing, which beat McCorkindale.” Incidentally, the McCorkindale in question was the former Jag who had transferred allegiance two seasons earlier. In the end it was a losing appearance for Jack, as Clyde fought back for a 3-2 win. Returning to his new home in Southampton, Jack made his first class debut for St Mary's in November, 1893, against Uxbridge in the FA Cup. He was described on the Saints Players database as "a deft and aggressive forward", and they tell us that Jack had the distinction of being the first ever Saint to be sent off when he was over-zealous in a Hampshire Senior Cup-tie against Freemantle in February, 1894! He scored in the club’s inaugural game in the Southern League, and enjoyed a rich spell with the club, totalling 40 games and 25 goals. As the Hampshire Advertiser noted “when at his best Jack Angus was a brilliant forward”. It was also reported in the southern press that after the 1894-95 season he intended to join the crew of a “well-known yacht”, but he played on for another year. Jack obviously had inherited his father's seafaring genes, as soon it was confirmed that he was indeed due to set sail for China by the end of 1896, finally bound for Hong Kong that December, and later on to Canton. The mechanical engineer returned to England and appears to have worked on the capital’s Tower Bridge project. He had met his wife-to-be, Charlotte, in Southampton and they two were wed in London in 1898. Still hankering after a game in his early 30s, Jack signed with Fulham Athletic of the Southern League in late 1899, although his last footballing hurrah was short-lived, the arrangement petering out after just a couple of months. After leaving Fulham around the start of 1900, information on Jack's life is contradictory. Southampton’s respected player Archive website notes that he stayed in the Canton district of China and died there during 1903. However official court documents from 1906 relating to his divorce, raised by his wife Charlotte of Southampton, reveal that solicitor’s acting for Mrs Angus traced Jack “living at Newcastle upon Tyne”. The documents also confirm he was a mechanical engineer and at the time of his marriage in 1898 was in London. A certain John W. Angus, born in 1868 or 1869, settled in London and died there during January 1933 – this may be the same man. If anyone knows more - please do get in touch! |
| (WS/PJO/SAIP) |
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