Bernard Battles (13 January 1875 – 9 February 1905) was a Scottish footballer, whose clubs included Heart of Midlothian, Celtic, Liverpool, Dundee and Kilmarnock before his death aged 30.
Late in the 1895–96 season, after Celtic had won the championship, he left on loan for English club Liverpool, where he played in two league fixtures and three 'test' matches (effectively promotion/relegation playoffs) for them.
[5] Back at Celtic, he was suspended by the club in November 1896 and did not feature again during 1896–97, after he – plus Peter Meechan and John Divers – refused to take the field for a game due to being insulted by the presence of a journalist who had been highly critical of the team in their previous match (a loss to Rangers in the Glasgow Cup final).
[6][7] Battles joined Dundee in April 1897 and would make 19 total appearances with 2 goals during the 1897–98 season,[8] then played another League match for Liverpool in March 1898.
He rejoined Celtic the following October, shortly after John Divers also returned; despite the pair's past indiscretion, the team's results had noticeably worsened in their absence.