John M. Young
John M. Young
John M. Young
● John M. Young (UNG)

born in Scotland

John Miller Young was born on Saturday, 18th April, 1891, in Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross.

The forward signed for George Easton's Thistle on Wednesday, 13th May, 1914, having most recently been with Motherwell.

Aged 23, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 15th August, 1914, in a 4-0 defeat away to Ayr United in the SFL First Division.

There were no goals for John during his time with Thistle.

He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 26th February, 1916, in a 3-1 win at home to Motherwell in the Scottish Football League, having appeared as a Jag on 10 occasions.

His club-list included Queen's Park, Motherwell, Partick Thistle and King's Park.

John died on Thursday, 20th November, 1947, in Glasgow, aged 56.

Bio Extra

John was an outside right who joined the Jags from Motherwell in May 1914. The 23-year-old played on 10 occasions, including that season’s Glasgow Cup final draw, and subsequent defeat to Clyde. He played one previous Glasgow Cup quarter final match against Third Lanark, a 1-0 win at Firhill. All of his other appearances were SFL First Division fixtures. As well as being a footballer with Queen’s Park (where his brother Bob also played) and Motherwell, John was an accomplished cricketer at Clydesdale.

John enrolled at the University of Glasgow Medical School when he was 18 and playing with Queen’s Park, where he tended to turn out for the club’s Strollers side. He graduated in 1914 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degree (MB ChB). John was commissioned into the 15 (1st Glasgow) Battalion of the Highland Light Infantry in 1914. This Battalion was also known as “The Tramways Battalion”, as many of their original volunteers came from the local council tramways department. John was commissioned as the Battalion medical officer, and was commissioned as a Captain. During the Battle of the Somme in 1916 John established a first aid post close to the front line, and under fire. He tended to the wounded. For this act he was awarded a Military Cross. In February 1917, Acting Major Young was seriously wounded, and had a leg amputated.

After the war John qualified as a Doctor of Public Health, and became a Fellow of the Royal Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He took a lead in establishing medical and nutrition services in schools in the city. John passed away in November 1947. There is an article about John in “The University of Glasgow Story” on the Glasgow University website.

On account of his service during WWI, John is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle Returned →.

(DMAC)



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