Lachlan McPherson

Lachlan McPherson

Personal information
Date of birth	11 July 1900
Place of birth	Dennistoun, Scotland
Height	5 ft 10+1⁄2 in (1.79 m)[1]
Position(s)	Left half Inside left
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1919–1921	Cambuslang Rangers
1921–1924	Notts County	32	(5)
1924–1930	Swansea Town	199	(29)
1930–1933	Everton	30	(1)
1933–1935	New Brighton	53	(3)
1935–1936	Hereford United
1936–1937	Milford United
Total		314	(38)
Managerial career
1935–1936	Hereford United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lachlan McPherson (born 11 July 1900) was a Scottish footballer who played as a left half or inside left.

Career

Raised in the Springburn area of Glasgow, McPherson began his career as a teenager with Cambuslang Rangers in the Scottish junior leagues before moving south to English football; he never played for a senior Scottish club.^[2]

His longest spell was at Swansea Town where he spent five seasons, made 199 Football League appearances^[3] and helped the club to win the Third Division South and gain promotion in 1924–25, followed by a run to the semi-finals of the 1925–26 FA Cup.^[4]

Prior to his time at the Swans, McPherson had been with Notts County, playing a part in their Second Division title in 1922–23 – although subsequently he featured only five times in the top tier^[5] – and after his time in Wales he won the same medal again in 1930–31 with Everton. He had signed for the Toffees in January 1930 for a substantial £5,000 fee^[6] a few days after Swansea teammate Ben Williams made the same move,^[7] only for the team to be relegated five months later, recovering their top division status at the first time of asking.^[8]

Technically McPherson was still part of the Everton squad as they went straight on to win the First Division in 1931–32, but he only made three appearances in the campaign,^[5] and did not play first team football at Goodison Park for almost two years with his cause hampered by a serious knee injury,^[9] and interested clubs deterred by the high value placed on his transfer by the club due to a determination to recoup as much as possible of the fee they paid Swansea for his services. Eventually he went to Merseyside neighbours New Brighton in August 1933 for a small fraction of that earlier deal.^[1][10]

He later had a spell as player-manager of Hereford United, then competing in the semi-professional Birmingham & West Midlands League.

References

1. Archie Mapherson Transferred To New Brighton [sic - confuses his name with Archie McPherson of Liverpool, other information is accurate], Liverpool Post and Mercury, 24 August 1933, via Everton Independent Research Data
2. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. Lachlan McPherson, Doing The 92
4. Swansea Town v Arsenal 1926, Before The 'D'...Association Football around the world, 1863-1937, 4 January 2013
5. About Lacky McPherson, Play Up Liverpool
6. Everton Transfers: 1929/30, EFC Statto
7. Everton Sign Half-back | McPherson Of Swansea Town Secured, The Evening Express, 2 January 1930, via Everton Independent Research Data
8. McPherson Lacky Image 1 Swansea Town 1926, Vintage Footballers
9. Everton's Best Ever Resolve, Evening Express, 27 August 1932, via Everton Independent Research Data
10. Everton Transfers: 1933/34, EFC Statto