John Arrol Player Profile

Biography

John Arrol may not rate high in the pantheon of Dundee goalkeeping greats but the popular keeper played in the 1967 League Cup Final for The Dee and played in European competition during his four years at Dens.

Arrol spent most of his time at Dens competing for the number one jersey with up and coming youngster and eventual Dundee clean sheet record holder Alistair Donaldson and Arrol himself was three years younger than Ally having been born in 1946.

In August 1965 Dundee manager Bobby Ancell released European Cup hero Bert Slater and was prepared to put his faith in the 21 year old Donaldson and brought in John Arrol as back up for a £3,000 fee from East Stirlingshire.

Arrol started his football career with Duntocher Hibs before signing for East Stirlingshire and featured for ES Clydebank during the Falkirk side’s ill fated merger with Clydebank Juniors and move to Kilbowie Park. He signed for Dundee as the East Stirling fans won several court cases to have their club return home to Firs Park and split from Clydebank but had to wait until February 1966 to make his Dark Blue debut.

Donaldson started the season as first choice keeper but after four league defeats in a row, Ancell threw Arrol into the deep end by handing him his first start against Celtic in the Scottish Cup at Dens. Watched by a 29,000 crowd Celtic made a great start when McBride scored after just five minutes but Arrol made his mark when he brilliantly saved a John Hughes penalty. Against the run of play however Chalmers made in 2-0 just before half-time and there was no way back for Dundee.

Arrol and Donaldson continued to share the goalkeeping duties until the end of the season and after playing in the final match against Motherwell, he started the 1966/67 season in the first game against Dundee United at Tannadice in a League Cup sectional tie.

A 2-0 defeat meant Donaldson was back for the next League Cup game at home to Aberdeen but by mid October Arrol was back between the sticks and held the number one jersey until the end of the season.

A sixth place finish was enough to get Dundee into the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup as the rules at the time precluded two sides from the same city entering the competition. Clyde finished third behind the Old Firm but as Rangers entered the Fairs Cup as runners-up, Clyde were denied entry into Europe and Dundee took their place instead as the next highest placed team in the league.

The Dark Blues would make the most of the opportunity by reaching the semi-final and Arrol played in the first round, first leg tie away at DWS Amsterdam and in both legs of the second round tie with Royal Liege which The Dee won 7-2 on aggregate (3-1 at home and 4-1 away with George McLean scoring all four).

Donaldson was brought into the team for the second leg at home to DWS Amsterdam and stayed in the side for the 3-1 League Cup semi-final win against St Johnstone at Tannadice but for the final John Arrol was recalled and played in one of the best finals played at Hampden in the 20th century.

In the final Dundee would meet Celtic, winners of the previous season’s domestic treble and European Cup and they had battered Morton 7-1 in the other semi-final. They were therefore the favourites going into the game and on a bright autumn day, 66,660 descended onto the Hampden slopes with 10,000 fans from Juteopolis.

The Dark Blues hoped to contain the early Celtic pressure but within 10 minutes found themselves 2-0 down thanks to goals from Billy McNeil and John Hughes. However Dundee eventually settled and in 25 minutes Sammy Wilson set up George McLean for an opportunist goal to bring Dundee back into the game.

Dundee nearly equalised when George McLean was through on goal but shot over the bar and after the interval, despite continuing to trouble the Celtic defence, it was Celtic who scored when Chalmers made it 3-1 with 17 minutes left. Jim McLean then scored from close range after a corner but as Dundee poured forward, Bobby Lennox pounced on a defensive mix up to make it 4-2.

Dundee refused to lie down and with five minutes left George McLean got his second to make it 4-3 but as Dundee pushed up in a desperate attempt to draw level, Willie Wallace broke away to finish the scoring, make it 5-3 and win the League Cup for Celtic.

It was a runners-up medal for Arrol therefore who could do little about the goals but there was little time to dwell on the disappointment with the Royal Liege first leg four days after the final.

In December, after a 4-3 defeat to Partick, Arrol lost his place in goal and Donaldson stayed as number one for the rest of the season; playing in the quarter and semi-finals of the Fairs Cup where The Dee were knocked out by the mighty Leeds United 2-1 on aggregate.

With Donaldson now firmly established as the first choice keeper, Arrol made just one appearance in the 1968/69 season deputising for the injured Ally in a 4-0 defeat away at Raith.

With no sign of getting into the side Arrol was forced to leave Dens Park to get first team football and in October 1969 manager John Prentice sold him to Dunfermline Athletic for the same fee Dundee had paid East Stirlingshire four years earlier. In total he kept 17 clean sheets in 59 appearances and has the honour of being in a select band of keepers who played in a major final for Dundee.

Arrol stayed at East End Park for five years until Partick Thistle also paid £3,000 for his services. After just a year at Firhill he moved across Glasgow to Clyde whom he helped win promotion to the First Division in 1979. Arrol hung up gloves after a short spell at St Johnstone and returned to Clyde as youth coach. John also returned to a previous club in 2004 when he was appointed chief scout at Partick Thistle while his son was also a keeper, turning out for Oldham, Stenhousemuir and Clydebank.