John Bain (footballer, born 1923)

John Legat Bain BEM (2 September 1923 – 2 June 2019) was a Scottish football player, manager and chairman for Ferranti Thistle and Meadowbank Thistle (the predecessor clubs of Livingston).

John Bain
BEM
Personal information
Full name John Legat Bain[1]
Date of birth 2 September 1923[2]
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Date of death 2 June 2019 (aged 95)
Place of death Livingston, Scotland
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Portsmouth
Reading
1952–1963 Ferranti Thistle
Managerial career
1959 Ferranti Thistle
1974–1976 Meadowbank Thistle
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

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Bain left the Royal Navy in 1952 to become a planning engineer with high-tech firm Ferranti in his home city of Edinburgh.[3]

He joined the company's football team Ferranti Thistle and starred as a left-back. He played until he was 40, and was convinced to take over as manager.[citation needed]

He then became chairman for 15 years before being convinced to step back in as manager when the club was renamed Meadowbank Thistle and joined the Scottish Football League in 1974.

Bain remained involved with the team, which changed its name in 1995 to accompany a relocation to Almondvale Stadium in Livingston, West Lothian, as the team's honorary vice-president.

Personal life and death

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Bain retired in 1980. He was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 1988 New Year Honours.[4] He died in Livingston in 2019, at the age of 95.[5][6]

Honours

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Ferranti Thistle

References

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  1. ^ "John Legat Bain birth record". Scotland's People. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  2. ^ Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989–2022
  3. ^ "A Tale of Two Thistles". Tell Him He's Pele. 29 July 2013.
  4. ^ "1988 New Year Honours". The London Gazette.
  5. ^ "Tributes to factory works team manager who built club now known as Livingston FC". Edinburgh Evening News. 8 February 2019.
  6. ^ "John Legat Bain death record". Scotland's People. Retrieved 28 January 2023.