Devine Archie Image 1 Falkirk 1909

Description

Lochgelly, Fife born inside forward Archie Devine started his career playing junior football with Minto Rovers in 1902, also Lochgelly Rangers and Lochgelly United in 1903, from where he went to Hearts as a triallist, making his Scottish League debut in March 1905 against Greenock Morton, his only appearance. He joined to Raith Rovers in 1907 and then returning on to play for Heart of Midlothian in 1908-09, scoring once in 3 more appearances before joining Falkirk. It was at Falkirk that he suddenly came to prominence, scoring 13 goals in 25 appearances in 1909-10 as they finished runners up to Celtic in The Scottish League Championship. This earned him an international cap for Scotland, against Wales on 5th March 1910. Devine scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for Scotland, but he never played for the national side again. He also made one appearance for the Scottish League XI that season, in a 3-2 win against the Football League at Ewood Park in February 1910.

He transferred to First Division Bradford City in the summer of 1910 and made his Football League debut at Liverpool in September of that year, scoring 9 goals in a season that not only saw Bradford finish 5th but ended with them beating the mighty Newcastle United in the 1911 FA Cup Final 1-0 in a replay at Old Trafford after the first match at The Crystal Palace had finished 0-0. After 11 goals in 61 appearances he joined Arsenal from The Bantams for £1,000 in February 1913. Devine made his debut in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea almost immediately but could not prevent the Gunners from suffering relegation to the Second Division that year. He began the 1913-14 season as a regular with Arsenal, now in their new home, and grabbed headlines in the very first game at Highbury with the winner in a 2-1 victory over Leicester Fosse. But Devine could not hold down his place for the full season and he returned to Bradford City in the summer of 1914 after a spell at Shelbourne in Ireland, however he couldn’t get back into the Bantam’s first eleven. He returned to Scotland with Lochgelly United in 1915, joining Dunfermline Athletic in 1919 before re-joining Lochgelly United in 1920.