Doc’s teenage dream became a Dutch success
These days it’s more difficult than ever for Scottish youngsters to get a game for one of England’s top clubs. They’re probably not helped by the absence of any managers from north of the border in the Premier League. English football was awash with players of all ages back in the 1970s. It’s exactly 40 years ago today that a 17-yearold striker made a shock debut for Derby County against Spurs. Unfortunately, it turned out to be John Clayton’s only top flight appearance in England. He did, however, go on to be a scoring sensation in the Dutch First Division. John’s early career was hindered by illness. That’s slightly ironic, considering it was The Doc who got his professional career started. John recalled: “I was playing with Elgin Boys Club when I was about 13 and we took on a team from Manchester United. “Tommy Docherty was the manager at Old Trafford and liked the look of me. “I then spent four years going down to Manchester at Christmas, Easter and during the summer. “They were going to offer me a contract but then Tommy was sacked. “He took over at Derby County and asked me to go there. “I had clubs such as Arsenal and Tottenham after me, but Tommy told me he’d play me in the first team before I was 18. “He was true to his word when I was thrown in against Spurs at the Baseball Ground. “We had a few injuries and the manager said I could play on the left wing. “I’d only played a handful of reserve matches, so it was a great boost to my confidence. “We drew 2-2, with recent signing John Duncan getting the equaliser.” The challenge for the young Scot was to stay involved with the first team. John went on: “I was an unused substitute against QPR and then a regular for the reserves. “Gordon Hill was the man in possession of the No. 11 shirt and he was a brilliant player. “The following season I really struggled. I had no energy at all and was eventually diagnosed with glandular fever. “Derby were relegated to Division Two, where I played about 25 games for the first team.” After being released in 1982, John had a year in Hong Kong with Bulova before returning to the UK to join Chesterfield. He said: “I then moved to Tranmere and started scoring lots of goals. “That got me a good transfer to Plymouth Argyle.” John arrived at Plymouth in possession of the Football League’s Golden Boot, after hitting the net 31 times in season 1985-86. He helped The Pilgrims win promotion to the Second Division and then tried his luck in Holland. In October, 1988, he was the talk of Dutch football after a prolific scoring spree with Fortuna Sittard. He said: “I got the winner against PSV Eindhoven, who were then holders of the European Cup. “There were also goals against Ajax and Feyenoord. It was fantastic to come up against players like Romario and Ronald Koeman. “The players at Sittard were asking me why I wasn’t being called up by Scotland. “I had to tell them I wasn’t good enough. Scotland had players like Graeme Sharp and Frank McAvennie. “Playing in Holland took me back to my childhood in Elgin. At the local boys club, we were coached by a teacher, John Cameron. “He was an amazing man who studied Dutch football and was way ahead of his time.” John had two seasons with Sittard and another two with Volendam. He joined Burnley in 1993, but a back injury forced him to retire from the game. Now 57, he works as a regional manager for the youth development department of the English Football League. He was previously academy manager at Bristol City.