{{short description|Scottish footballer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox football biography |name = Peter Scarff |image = |image_size = |caption = |fullname = |birth_date = 29 March 1908 |birth_place = Linwood, Scotland |death_date = {{death date and age|1933|12|9|1908|3|29|df=y}} |death_place = Bridge of Weir, Scotland |height = |position = Inside left |youthyears1 = |youthclubs1 = Linwood St Conval's |years1 = 1928–1933 |clubs1 = Celtic |caps1 = 97 |goals1 = 51 |years2 = 1928 |clubs2 = → Maryhill Hibernian (loan) |caps2 = |goals2 = |nationalyears1 = 1931 |nationalteam1 = Scotland |nationalcaps1 = 1 |nationalgoals1 = 0 }} '''Peter Scarff''' (29 March 1908 – 9 December 1933) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside left.
==Career== Born in Linwood, Scarff played club football for Celtic, making his debut in January 1929, shortly before his 21st birthday.<ref name=celts>[http://www.thecelticwiki.com/m/page/Scarff%2C+Peter+-+Pics Scarff, Peter], An Alphabet of the Celts, Eugene MacBride (via The Celtic Wiki)</ref><ref name=fscfc/> He was highly regarded, with observers noting that he could be a successor to Jimmy McMenemy as the team's creative force and acted a foil for the more direct Jimmy McGrory at centre forward.<ref name=celts/>
Scarff scored ten goals in four league matches in early 1930, and by the end of the 1930–31 season, he had firmly established himself in the Celtic team, making 46 appearances as the club won the Glasgow Cup and the Scottish Cup<ref name=celts/><ref name = "Smith"/><ref name=fscfc/> and also generally improved their league form, finishing within two points of champions Rangers in contrast to the 15-point margin in his debut campaign two years earlier. He had made what proved to be his only appearance for Scotland in February 1931<ref name = "Smith">{{cite book|title=Scotland Who's Who: International Players 1872–2013|author=Paul Smith|publisher=Pitch Publishing|year=2013|page=253}}</ref> but also experienced tragedy in September that year, being yards from the incident when teammate John Thomson died after receiving an accidental blow to the head during a match.<ref name=celts/>
Scarff never scored another goal after the Thomson incident and within months it was his health that was in serious doubt when he experienced difficulty breathing during matches and was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. He played his 119th and last match for Celtic in December 1931, aged 23.<ref name=fscfc>[http://www.fitbastats.com/celtic/player.php?playerid=2472 Celtic player Scarffe, Peter], FitbaStats</ref><ref name=celts/> He soon relocated to a local sanatorium where it was hoped his condition might improve, but despite periods of remission it was confirmed by summer 1933 that he would never play football again; he died in December of that year.<ref name=celts/><ref name = "Smith"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{SFA profile|113249}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarff, Peter}} Category:1908 births Category:1933 deaths Category:Scottish men's footballers Category:Scotland men's international footballers Category:Celtic F.C. players Category:Maryhill Harp F.C. players Category:Men's association football inside forwards Category:Scottish Football League players Category:Scottish Junior Football Association players Category:Footballers from Renfrewshire Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Scotland Category:People from Linwood, Renfrewshire Category:20th-century Scottish sportsmen
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