And meantime John Barker had played football, as an outside-left, with both the local clubs, the original Linthouse and Rangers, including at the highest level. At former, it was for three seasons from 1889 and again between 1896 and 1898, as the club briefly achieved League status, he retiring from playing in 1899 but on the club's committee until 1900 and its dissolution. This had been as in-between he for four campaigns featured for Rangers, there winning the Cup in 1894, the same year he would make the second of his appearances for the country, scoring in both. Indeed in the first he had hit a hat-trick in an 0-8 win over Wales away, over-shadowed only because in that same game Jake Madden hit four.