John Barclay Picken (1880 – 31 July 1952) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside forward for several clubs in The Football League, including Bolton Wanderers, Manchester United, Burnley and Bristol City, as well as Plymouth Argyle in the Southern Football League. He scored a total of 128 league goals in more than 350 career appearances.
Playing career
Born in Hurlford, Ayrshire, Picken started his career with Hurlford Thistle before moving to nearby Kilmarnock Shawbank. In 1899, he moved to England to sign for Bolton Wanderers, where he helped the Trotters to promotion in his first season. He spent four years at Bolton, scoring 22 goals in 101 league appearances before suffering a broken leg in November 1902. He spent a hugely successful two years with the club, scoring 46 goals in all competitions from just 89 appearances, including two hat-tricks in three games in October 1904 against New Brompton and Tottenham Hotspur, as Plymouth won the Western League title in 1904–05.
His form in front of goal did not go unnoticed, and he joined Manchester United prior to the 1905–06 season. That year, he finished as top scorer, with 20 league goals and another five in the FA Cup, helping Manchester United earn promotion back to the First Division for the first time since 1894. Despite going unbeaten at home and scoring the most goals in the entire Football League, Burnley narrowly missed out on promotion, a feat Picken had managed in his first seasons at both Bolton and Manchester United.