Years Team Date of death 1965 (aged 53–54) Name John Gardiner | Place of death Glasgow, Scotland Role Footballer Playing position Height 1.75 m | |
Date of birth (1911-12-23)23 December 1911 Died 1965, Glasgow, United Kingdom | ||
John gardiner footballer born 1911 top 6 facts
John Flannegan Gardiner (23 December 1911 – 10 October 1965) was a Scottish footballer who represented Great Britain at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Gardiner played amateur football for Queen's Park, joining from John Street School in Bridgeton. He embarked on a tour of Norway with the club in 1933. During his time with Queen's Park, he represented the Scottish amateur national team in games against England, Wales and Ireland.
He retired from playing due to a cruciate ligament injury.
During the 1936 Olympics 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.
In the 1950s and 1960s he was general manager of the Kelvin Hall exhibition centre in Glasgow. He died in 1965 due to lung cancer. His son is Barry Gardiner, a politician.
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". Gardiner became president of the club in the 1960s.