John Veitch (footballer)

John Gould Veitch (19 July 1869 – 3 October 1914) was an English amateur footballer, who played for the Corinthian club in the 1890s. He made one appearance for England playing at inside left in 1894, in which he scored a hat trick.

Veitch was born in Kingston Hill, Surrey, the son of John Gould Veitch and his wife, Jane (née Hodge). His father was a horticulturist, one of a long line of renowned plant collectors and breeders. His elder brother James Herbert Veitch became a partner and subsequently owner of the Veitch Nurseries business.

Veitch was educated at Westminster School and was a member of the school football side in 1887. He then went up to Cambridge University (Trinity College), where he won a blue in 1888, 1889, 1890 and 1891.

On leaving university, he continued to play for Old Westminsters, although he was also a member of the Corinthian amateur club, having made his first appearance for them while still at university on 26 January 1889 in a 1–0 defeat by Preston North End. His next appearance was on 16 February when he scored in a 3–1 victory over Scottish Cup finalists, Celtic.

Over the next few years, his appearances for Corinthian were fairly infrequent, until after he had left university. In the 1891–92 season, he played in thirteen of Corinthian's 16 fixtures, scoring twelve goals, including a hat-trick against Scottish side Renton on 18 April 1892. In the following season he only played nine matches, but in 1893–94 he made 17 appearances scoring ten goals. In the match against Derby County on 27 March 1894, he scored four goals as Corinthian ran out 5–3 winners.

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