John Prentice (footballer)

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Personal information
John Prentice
Full name	John Prentice
Date of birth	1926
Place of birth	Shotts, Scotland
Date of death	February 10, 2006
Place of death	, Australia
Height	1.88 m (6ft 2in)
Playing position	Full-back
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1942-1944 1944-1951 1951-1956 1956-1959	Carluke Rovers Heart of Midlothian Rangers Falkirk	- (-) - (-) - (-) - (-)
Teams managed
1960-1962 1962-1966 1966 1966-1968 1968-1971 1973-1975	Arbroath Clyde Scotland Falkirk Dundee Falkirk
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

John Prentice (1926 – February 10, 2006), was a Scottish football player and manager. He played for Heart of Midlothian, Rangers and Falkirk, and managed Arbroath, Falkirk, Dundee, Clyde and Scotland.

Prentice was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire. After playing for the non-league club Carluke Rovers, Prentice signed for Hearts in 1944. A defender, he played for the Edinburgh side for seven years, before signing for Rangers in 1951 for £7000. He joined Falkirk in 1956 and the high point of his playing career was captaining Falkirk to their Scottish Cup triumph over Kilmarnock in the 1957 Scottish Cup Final. He left Falkirk in 1959 and signed for Dumbarton, where he finished his playing career. He also played for the Scottish national team.

Prentice began his managerial career at the age of 33 in April 1960, when he was appointed as manager of relegated First Division side Arbroath and took up his post for the final two games of the season. In his first full season, Arbroath finished in 12th place in the 19 team Second Division after he had controversially sold top striker Dave Easson to Raith Rovers. In his second season, after a good start to the season, they finished in 6th place. Prentice suddenly resigned as manager in September 1962. No official reason was given for his exit, but a few weeks before his departure, Arbroath Town Council had refused to allocate him a house on the grounds that his job was not considered to be that of a ‘key worker’.

In November he was appointed as manager of Clyde. In his first half-season he was unable to stop Clyde being relegated but in 1964 he guided them to promotion to the First Division as Second Division runners-up. In season 1964/65, Clyde finished seventh in the eighteen team First Division and played well the following season.

The quality of his teams performances and his management talents were recognized when, in March 1966, he was appointed as full-time manager of the national team, succeeding Jock Stein who had managed the side on a part-time basis in addition to his post at Celtic.

He spent six months in charge of the national team in 1966, and recorded a 1-1 draw with reigning World champions Brazil prior to the World Cup finals. He returned to club management with his old club Falkirk in October 1966 after defeats by England, Holland and Portugal.

He later managed Dundee, his only experience of managing in European competition but left in 1972 to return to Falkirk where he remained until 1975. He emigrated to Australia in 1976.

He died in Australia of a brain tumor aged 79.