[a] Weir initially played club football in Glasgow for Third Lanark,[2][1] and made one appearance for Scotland in February 1887;[3][4][5] he took part in a trial the following month but had no further international recognition.
[6][1] At the same time Everton eliminated Bolton Wanderers from the 1887–88 FA Cup but following a protest were found to have several professionals in their ranks – against the rules of the time – and these players, including Weir (who by then had been injured in a match against Bootle),[1] Izatt and other Scotsmen, had their registrations suspended while Everton were disqualified from the competition.
[7][1] Most of the Scottish players left the area but Weir remained on Merseyside, was re-instated and played for the club in 16 of their 22 fixtures in the first season of the Football League in 1888–89 (Everton finished eighth of twelve teams).
[8] His elder brother Charles, a former Third Lanark teammate, featured for the Toffees reserve team for the latter part of the season (joining after playing against them in a friendly) but was not retained.
[1] Weir played in the first three matches of the next campaign[9] but then suffered a badly broken arm which caused him to miss the rest of the season and also impacted his trade as blacksmith.