John Gaulton Hubbard, MBE (16 December 1930 – 21 June 2018) was a South African footballer. Hubbard spent the majority of his career at Scottish club Rangers, and later played for English club Bury before ending his career back in Scotland with Ayr United. He was the first African player to compete in the European Cup, having played in October 1956 with Rangers versus Nice, and also the first African player to score a goal in the competition.

He became one of the few players to score a hat-trick in an Old Firm match, which he achieved on 1 January 1955, the only foreign player in Rangers' history to do so. Hubbard was nicknamed the "Penalty King" by Rangers fans, due to his exceptional record of 65 goals scored from 68 penalty kicks, 22 consecutively.

Johnny Hubbard

He left Rangers in 1959 with 172 appearances and 77 goals for the club, moving to Bury for £6,000. After three years at Bury he returned to Scotland, spending two years with Ayr United before retiring from football to work as a physical education teacher and a community sports development officer. In 2007, he was named an honorary member of the Rangers Supporters Trust, along with Mark Walters and Billy Simpson.

Johnny Hubbard

Hubbard died in June 2018, aged 87.

Johnny Hubbard

Honours

Rangers

Scottish first-tier League Championships (5): 1949–50, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59 Scottish Cup (2): 1949–50, 1952–53

References

External links

Career history

1930 births

2018 deaths

Soccer players from Pretoria

South African men's soccer players

South African expatriate men's soccer players

Expatriate men's footballers in England

Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland

Rangers F.C. players

Bury F.C. players

Ayr United F.C. players

South African Members of the Order of the British Empire

English Football League players

Scottish Football League players

Scottish Football League representative players

South African expatriate sportspeople in England

South African expatriate sportspeople in Scotland

Men's association football wingers

South African emigrants to the United Kingdom

South African schoolteachers

White South African people