John Prentice

John Prentice (2 August 1926 – 10 February 2006) was a Scottish football player and manager. He played for Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Falkirk and Dumbarton, and managed Arbroath, Falkirk, Dundee, Clyde and Scotland.

Club career 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. In his first half-season he was unable to stop Clyde being relegated, but in 1964 he guided them to promotion as Second Division runners-up. Scotland suffered defeats by England, the Netherlands and Portugal, but recorded a 1–1 draw with reigning world champions Brazil in his last game.

Later Club career Prentice returned to club management with his old club Falkirk in October 1966. 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.

Personal life Prentice had two sons who were active in Scottish football. Alan played for Meadowbank Thistle and Hamilton Academical. Doug refereed at the highest level in Scotland and in Australia.

Retirement Prentice emigrated to Australia in the 1970s.

Honours

Player Rangers Scottish Football League : 1952–53, 1955–56 Scottish Cup : 1952–53

Falkirk Scottish Cup : 1956–57

Manager Clyde Scottish Second Division promotion: 1963–64

Dundee Forfarshire Cup : 1970–71

Falkirk Stirlingshire Cup : 1966–67, 1967–68 Scottish Second Division : 1974–75

Managerial statistics

TeamNatFromToRecordGWDLWin %Scotland 19661966