Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Moses McNeil | ||
Date of birth | 29 October 1855 | ||
Place of birth | Rhu, Scotland | ||
Date of death | 9 April 1938 | (aged 82)||
Place of death | Dumbarton, Scotland | ||
Playing position | Winger | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1872–1882 | Rangers | ||
National team | |||
1873–1880 | Scotland | 2 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Moses McNeil (29 October 1855 – 9 April 1938) was a Scottish professional footballer who was one of the founding members of Rangers Football Club. He played as a winger.
McNeil, along with fellow founding members Peter McNeil (his brother) and friends William McBeath and Peter Campbell, adopted the name Rangers, reportedly from an English rugby annual. Rangers played their first ever match against Callander F.C. at Glasgow Green's Flesher's Haugh in May 1872, which resulted in a 0-0 draw. Rangers played one more match in 1872, an 11-0 win against Clyde - not the present Clyde F.C..
In 1874 Rangers played their first ever Scottish Cup match, and McNeil scored in a 2-0 win over Oxford, but Rangers lost to Dumbarton in the second round. Rangers reached their first Scottish Cup final in 1877 but lost to Vale of Leven after two replays.
McNeil's Rangers reached the Scottish Cup final again in 1878 but, after Rangers refused to play in the replay following a 1-1 draw at Hampden, the trophy was awarded to Vale of Leven. Rangers won their first trophy in 1879, the "Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup" after beating Vale of Leven 2-1 in front of 11,000 spectators at Hampden.
McNeil's last recorded appearance for Rangers was on 30 September 1882 in a Scottish Cup replay defeat to Queen's Park at Hampden Park. He made 34 Scottish Cup appearances and scored ten goals during his Rangers career.
McNeil won two caps for Scotland, the first on 25 March 1876 in a 4-0 win over Wales (the first international between the two countries) and the second on 13 March 1880 in a 5-4 win over England, in which he played alongside his brother, Henry. McNeil was the first Rangers player to play for Scotland and the club's first international footballer.