Falkirk’s John McIlwane had become one of the leading centre-halves in Scotland when he represented the Scottish League v Irish League in October 1927. In the February, he joined Portsmouth for a record £4,500 and was ever-present in their run-in, as they avoided relegation – by one point – in their first season in Division I.

The following season, he captained the side that reached the club’s first FA Cup Final. Out of the first team for the second half of 1929-30,

he joined Southampton for £2,650 – again, a club record.

Injured and out of the side after the Saints’ first three games of 1930-31, he did not regain his place at centre-half until after Christmas, following seven games at centre-forward, in which he obliged with five goals. He brought his total to six goals from 13 appearances in that position, the next season, amid spasmodic bursts at centre-half. After which, he refused a new contract.

He was made available at £2,500, but there were no takers. With the dispute not settled, McIlwane needed to find a club outside the Football League’s jurisdiction, so he went to Llanelli and helped them win the Welsh League in 1933. Whereupon, Southampton offered him to Llanelli for a knock-down £1,500, but John preferred to negotiate a peaceful return to The Dell and, after a patchy first season back, he was a regular during the next two, mainly at centre-half, and was made captain. But then came an unexpected promotion. For expressly “financial” reasons, the Board asked their manager, George Kay, in June 1936, to give, or to accept, three months’ notice. It didn’t take Kay that long to find a job at Liverpool, whereupon the directors implemented their savings-package: secretary George Goss would add “manager” to his title and McIlwane would coach the first team and Reserves, while continuing to play the odd game.

This was not a happy move for John, who was immediately at odds with the long-serving Bill Luckett, whose Saints’ career ended acrimoniously after the opening game of the new season. Following four straight defeats in December, the Board gave McIlwane notice, in January, that they were abandoning their experiment and he left, come July, to be assistant-manager at First Division Grimsby. He later doubled up as their physio. He remained at Blundell Park until Grimsby were relegated in 1948. Whereupon, he set up as a private masseur in Cleethorpes – until he returned to Scotland on retirement.