John Calderwood 'Jock' McLean (30 March 1908–2 April 1988) was a professional footballer who played in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 as a centre half for Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 and Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

.

Born in Busby, East Renfrewshire

Busby, East Renfrewshire

Busby is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Busby's close proximity to Glasgow effectively makes it a suburb of the city, though remains administratively separate. It lies on the White Cart Water south of Glasgow City Centre.-History:...

, McLean's first club was Scottish side Kirkintilloch Rob Roy

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C.

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed The Rabs or The Roy, they were formed in 1878...

, from where he joined Blackburn in 1930, and played eight times for them in the Football League First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

. In 1933 he signed for Bristol Rovers and was an ever-present in their team for his first two seasons with the club, picking up the Division Three (South) Cup

Football League Third Division South Cup

The Football League Third Division South Cup was a football knockout competition open to teams competing in Football League Third Division South. The competition was first held in 1933–34 and ran until the 1938–39 season.-Format:...

 in 1935. He went on to make 134 league appearances for Bristol Rovers, scoring once, before leaving to become player-manager of Street

Street F.C.

Street F.C. are a football club based in Street, near Glastonbury, in Somerset, England. They play their home matches at The Tannery. The club will play in the Western League Premier Division for the 2011-12 season...

 in 1938.

Street released McLean in 1939 following the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, but he returned to management in 1945, taking charge of Bristol Rovers' Colts team for a single season. He continued living in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 for the remainder of his life, dying three days after his 80th birthday in 1988.

Sources