McColl was born in Glasgow and played for Anderson Thornbank and St Anthony's before joining Celtic in 1913. He became a prolific scorer in the Scottish First Division helping the Bhoys team to win the title five times in his seven seasons at Celtic Park as well as a Scottish Cup in 1913–14.[4]
He moved to Stoke in 1920–21 to try his luck in the English game but he struggled, scoring five goals in 27 matches, and at the end of the season returned to Scotland with Partick Thistle[5] then Hibernian.[1] He continued his goalscoring in the Scottish League and hit 143 goals in 320 matches for the Hibees,[1] playing alongside another former St Anthony's forward Jimmy Dunn for several seasons.[6] Despite his prolonged success and goalscoring prowess at club level, he was never chosen for the Scotland national team or any other representative select teams.[5]
^ abJohn Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)