Arthur Milne (footballer)

Arthur Milne
Personal information
Full nameArthur H. Milne
Date of birthJanuary 1915[1]
Place of birthBrechin, Scotland[1]
Date of deathMay 1997[1]
Place of deathEdinburgh, Scotland[1]
Playing positionCentre forward
Youth career
–1934Brechin Vics
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1934–1937Dundee United
1937Liverpool
1937–1946Hibernian[2]74(42)
1946–1950St. Mirren[3]71(24)
1950–Coleraine
National team
1944Scotland (wartime)1(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Arthur H. Milne (January 1915 – May 1997) was a Scottish football player, who was a prolific goalscorer for Dundee United.[4]

Born in Brechin in 1915, Milne played for local club Brechin Vics, until signing for United in 1934.[4] Remarkably, he scored four goals on his senior debut, which no other player in the club's history has done.[4] Milne continued his prolific rate of scoring, netting 85 goals in 81 appearances for United.[4] No other player in the club's history has achieved a ratio better than one goal per game.[4]

Milne had a pay dispute with United in 1937, which led to him going on trial with Liverpool.[4] This trial, however, created a registration mix-up which led to Milne being declared a free agent.[4] Hibernian took advantage of the opportunity to sign Milne for no fee.[4] Milne also scored goals at a good rate for Hibs, finishing as their top scorer in the next two seasons.

His career, however, was interrupted by the Second World War, which curtailed competitive football in the United Kingdom. When league football resumed in 1946, Milne's career was nearing its end.[5] He only played in three league matches, scoring one goal, for Hibs after the war before being sold to St. Mirren for £1650.[1][5] Milne played for the Paisley club for four seasons, before moving to Northern Ireland in the summer of 1950 to become a player/coach of Coleraine.[1]

Milne represented Scotland once, in a wartime international against England.[6] Milne scored one of the Scotland goals in a 62 defeat on 14 October 1944.[6]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
  2. http://www.ihibs.co.uk/player.php?playerid=511
  3. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 , Dundee United F.C. official website.
  4. 5.0 5.1 Jeffrey, pp115-116.
  5. 6.0 6.1 "Arthur H Milne". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
Sources