John Gardiner (footballer, born 1911)

John Flannegan Gardiner^[2] (23 December 1911 – 10 October 1965), sometimes known as Jackie Gardiner,^[3][4] was a Scottish footballer who represented Great Britain at the 1936 Summer Olympics.^[5][6]

John Gardiner

Personal information
Full name	John Flannegan Gardiner
Date of birth	(1911-12-23)23 December 1911
Place of birth	Bridgeton, Scotland
Date of death	10 October 1965 (aged 53)
Place of death	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)^[1]
Position(s)	Half back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1930–1937	Queen's Park	170	(0)
International career
1932–1937	Scotland Amateurs	13	(0)
1936	Great Britain	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Gardiner played amateur football for Queen's Park,^[7] joining in 1930 from John Street School in Bridgeton.^[8] He embarked on a tour of Norway with the club in 1933.^[1] During his time with Queen's Park, he represented the Scottish amateur national team in games against England, Wales and Ireland.^[1]

He retired from playing due to a cruciate ligament injury.^[9]

During the 1936 Olympic Games, he represented Great Britain twice, his debut came in a 2–0 victory over China and his final game against Poland in a 5–4 loss. During the game against Poland he was booed by the crowd for body charging several players and knocking over Polish left winger Hubert Gad at a time when Great Britain were losing 5–1.^[10]

In the 1950s and 1960s, he was general manager of the Kelvin Hall exhibition centre in Glasgow.^[11][12] He died in 1965 from lung cancer.^[11] His son is Barry Gardiner, a politician,^[11] while grandson Jacob Gardiner-Smith is also a footballer.^[13]

Gardiner returned to Queen's Park after his playing career and taught a young Alex Ferguson, Ferguson had complained that an opponent had bitten him during the game and Gardiner told Ferguson to "bite him back".^[14] Gardiner became president of the club in the 1960s.

References

1. No. 44 J Gardiner. "Well Known Footballers". John Sinclair Ltd.
2. 'GARDINER, Barry Strachan', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017
3. "Gardiner Jackie Image 1 Queen's Park 1935". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
4. "Jackie Gardiner". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
5. – FIFA competition record (archived)
6. . Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
7. "QPFC.com – A Historical Queen's Park FC Website". www.qpfc.com. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
8. Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
9. "Memories From Lord MacFarlane". queensparkers.wordpress.com. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
10. Menary, Steve (2010). GB United? : British olympic football and the end of the amateur dream. Durington: Pitch. ISBN 978-1905411924.
11. . Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
12. "The Glasgow Herald – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
13. "Jacob Gardiner-Smith is back from Russia with much love". The Non-League Football Paper. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
14. Kay, Oliver (22 November 2008). . The Times  – via Highbeam (subscription required). Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.