Robert Torrance (1888 – 24 April 1918) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in defence for hometown team

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed ''The Rabs'' or ''The Roy'', they were formed in 1878. They wear red and black strips and currently compete in t ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He joined Bradford City in August 1908 and for three years was a hard-working understudy to the first team players. He had played just 36 league games in his first three seasons and one FA Cup game before he played in the

1911 FA Cup Final The 1911 FA Cup Final was the 40th FA Cup final. It was contested by Bradford City and Newcastle United. The first game resulted in a goalless draw at Crystal Palace. A single goal scored by Jimmy Speirs for Bradford won the replay at Old Traffor ...

replay as replacement for the injured Willie Gildea. City won 1–0, with Torrance being considered the 'Man of the Match'. Torrance became more involved in first team games, playing 23 league games the following season and all seven games during City's FA Cup defence, and more than 30 in the three seasons before league football was suspended for the First World War. His last game for City was a wartime regional game against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

in March 1917. Torrance, along with City's FA Cup winning captain Jimmy Speirs, was one of the club's players to die during service in the First World War whilst a gunner with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

. He was severely wounded in the arm by shell fragments on the Ypres Salient during the German spring offensive, and was killed by shellfire while being treated in hospital.

Honours

Bradford City * FA Cup: 1910–11

References

1918 deaths Scottish men's footballers Kirkintilloch Rob Roy F.C. players Royal Field Artillery soldiers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Bradford City A.F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Kirkintilloch Footballers from East Dunbartonshire 1888 births Men's association football defenders Military personnel from East Dunbartonshire {{Scotland-footy-defender-1880s-stub