John McPherson (19 June 1868 – 31 July 1926) was a Scottish footballer who played for Cowlairs, Kilmarnock, Rangers and the Scotland national team.

[4] He appeared for English club Everton as an amateur in 1887, also playing for Cowlairs of Glasgow in the early rounds of the 1887–88 Scottish Cup, which led to a protest by their defeated opponents Third Lanark over the possibility of McPherson and others having professional status (prohibited at the time).

[4] Another player (Robert Calderwood) was found to have been paid by an English club and received a two-year suspension,[1] and the match was replayed with Cowlairs winning again.

[4] McPherson did not return to Everton, featuring instead for Kilmarnock in the same edition of the Scottish Cup[3] before spending the next two years with Cowlairs, after which he joined Rangers in 1890.

[2] In addition, his younger brother David was a teammate at Rangers,[20] had a long spell at Kilmarnock[21] (including in the 1898 Scottish Cup final where he and John were on the opposing teams) and was also a Scottish international;[5][22] elder brother James was a teammate at Kilmarnock,[23] Cowlairs[24] and the Glasgow FA team,[25] and played as a guest for Celtic.