Malcolm McVean
Forward
Date of Birth: 07.03.1871
Birthplace: Dunbartonshire
Debut : 2nd September 1893 v Middlesbrough I (A) Football League Division Two: won 2-0
1st team games: 102
1st team goals: 28
Other clubs: Third Lanark, Burnley and Bedminster
Among a large batch of Scots recruited by one of Liverpool's founding fathers, John McKenna, McVean had the distinction of scoring Liverpool's first ever League goal. He struck after an hour of the club's debut match in the old Second Division, a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough Ironopolis on September 2, 1893.
It was the first of 10 League and FA Cup goals McVean scored in that landmark campaign which Liverpool ended in first place and then won a Test match against Newton Heath to secure promotion. After immediate relegation he won a second Division Two title medal when Liverpool climbed back to the top flight in 1896.
Born in Dunbartonshire in 1871, McVean was signed from Third Lanark after beginning an apprenticeship in Scotland as a shipyard boilermaker. His best role was as a fast, raiding right winger but he played in all five forward positions except inside left.
In February 1896 McVean scored a hat trick in Liverpool's record League victory, a 10-1 demolition of Rotherham Town. After 102 Liverpool appearances, scoring 28 goals, McVean joined Burnley in 1897 and later played for Bedminster. After hanging up his boots he went back to work in the shipyards and died in 1907 at the age of only 36.
|