Former Scottish football starlet blinded in bottle attack lands prestigious car dealer prize
John McTier was the victim of an unprovoked attack in Govan when he was just 16
A talented footballer blinded in a bottle attack has become an award-winning car dealer - and said the traumatic incident drove him to success.
John McTier was just 16 when he was jumped by a gang of six as he walked his girlfriend home in Govan. Now, 21 years on, he is celebrating success.
John had just signed for Ayr United and experts predicted a big future ahead of him when his career was left in ruins by the unprovoked attack in December 2004.
He was jumped by a gang of teen thugs - three boys and three girls - aged 14-17 as he walked near his home in Govan, Glasgow.
As he lay in hospital blinded in one eye and thinking about the wreckage of his life he told his mum Patricia: "I wish they had finished me off. If I can't play football I can't do anything else."
John, a promising left-winger, tried to make a comeback but losing the sight in his left eye proved too much to overcome and he was forced to give up the game.
He was initially offered just £32,000 in compensation for the assault, including just £5,000 for loss of earnings.
But lawyer Liam O'Donnell, ex-Scottish PFA chief Fraser Wishart, then Ayr coach Robert Connor and former Dundee United winger and team-mate Craig Conway told the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority he could have signed for an Old Firm club and earned £500,000 a year.
He was eventually awarded more than £260,000 in 2010 and used the cash to set himself up in business.
And the pain of the attack fuelled him and he has just been crowned Best Independent Motor Dealer at the 2025 Scottish Business Awards for his Cardonald-based firm Woodville Cars.
John told the Scottish Sun: 'It was a job to start with and then when I started doing something right, I got a buzz out of that.
'I was always wanting to be a football player, I tried my best, I wouldn't do the teenager thing and get drunk or whatever, I trained and I worked my best.
'I gave it 110 per cent. I didn't know any other thing. As stupid as it sounds, if a wee granny comes in and books you, you've got to get that right, I'm not taking that car out unless it's checked and double checked.
'It comes back to treating other people like you'd like to be treated yourself. I don't even know who nominated me for this award but it means a lot.'
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