John Love (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Thomson Love[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 March 1924[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland[2] | ||
| Date of death | 14 June 2007 (aged 83) | ||
| Place of death | Glenfarg. Scotland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Position(s) |
Inside forward[2] | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1947–1948 | Leith Athletic | 19 | (5) |
| 1948–1949 | Albion Rovers | 28 | (11) |
| 1949–1952 | Nottingham Forest | 59 | (21) |
| 1952–1954 |
Llanelli | ||
| 1954–1956 | Walsall | 40 | (10) |
| Total | 146 | (47) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1952–1954 |
Llanelli (player-manager) | ||
| 1955–1957 | Walsall | ||
| 1957–1960 | Wrexham | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Thomson Love
Football career
Love, "a hard
He started his career at
He won a move to
Love joined Walsall in March 1955, as the club floundered at the foot of the Third Division South table; he scored twice in sixteen games.[2] Having successfully applied for re-election, Walsall chose Love to replace the legendary Frank Buckley in September 1955.[2] Love picked himself for 24 league games, and scored eight goals, in 1955–56, as his side finished twentieth.[2] He then retired as a player, due to injury, and then managed the "Saddlers" to a fifteenth-place finish in 1956–57.[2]
Love took up the management reins at Third Division North Wrexham for the 1957–58 campaign. The "Red Dragons" finished twelfth, and lifted the Welsh Cup after victory over Chester City in a replay at the Racecourse Ground. His side founded the newly formed Third Division in 1958–59, and ended the season in eighteenth place. He stepped down at the end of the campaign. He returned to Edinburgh and took up a post with a furniture company and went on to become sales director.
Honours
- Distinguished Flying Cross medal: 1944
- with Nottingham Forest
- Football League Third Division South champion: 1950–51
- with Wrexham