Robert Russell Pursell (18 March 1889 – 24 May 1974) 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 for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the early 20th century. He was the elder brother of Peter Pursell and uncle of the similarly named Robert Wilson Pursell. He played in the 1914 FA Cup Final, but was banned for life for his part in the 1915 British football betting scandal. However his ban was lifted for his actions in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and he went on to play for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, before retiring with a broken leg in 1922.

Career

Queen's Park

Born in

Campbeltown Campbeltown (; gd, Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

, Scotland, Pursell attended

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

before signing for Queen's Park. He scored on his

Scottish League Division One The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

debut for the "Spiders" on 28 August 1909, in a 2–2 draw with Heart of Midlothian at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

. He went on to make 33 appearances in the 1909–10 season, scoring two goals. He scored two goals in 25 games throughout the 1910–11 campaign, which saw Queen's Park finish bottom of the division.

Liverpool

Pucell was signed by Liverpool

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Tom Watson in April 1911 – although Queen's Park were amateurs, Liverpool were subsequently fined £250 for not asking the club's permission before approaching Pursell. A "cool and brainy full-back", he made his First Division debut a 2–1 victory over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

on 30 September 1911. He made 26 appearances in 1911–12, a disappointing season for the "Reds" which saw the club avoiding

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from the top-flight by finishing a single point over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, who went down with

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. The following couple of seasons were to prove to be a testing time for Pursell as he failed to hold down a regular spot in the starting 11, he did, however, manage to play in all of Liverpool's eight cup ties, including the final, in their run to the 1914 FA Cup Final. The game was to be played in front on a reigning monarch for the first time as King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

was to attend the last cup final to be played at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

Park on 25 April 1914. The first appearance in the final for both Liverpool and opponents

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, the "Clarets" won the match 1–0 thanks to a

Bert Freeman Bertram Clewley Freeman (1 October 1885 – 11 August 1955) was an English footballer. He played as a centre forward for clubs Woolwich Arsenal, Everton, Burnley and Wigan Borough. Freeman was one of the most prolific goal-scorers of his tim ...

goal. On 2 April 1915, Liverpool lost 2–0 to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, Pursell giving away a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

, and the game was judged to be

fixed Fixed may refer to: * ''Fixed'' (EP), EP by Nine Inch Nails * ''Fixed'', an upcoming 2D adult animated film directed by Genndy Tartakovsky * Fixed (typeface), a collection of monospace bitmap fonts that is distributed with the X Window System * ...

. After an investigation by the Football League, Pursell and three teammates –

Tom Miller Tom Miller may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Tom Miller (broadcaster) (1940–1993), American radio personality and emcee * Tom Miller (artist) (1945–2000), American artist *Tom Miller (travel writer) (born 1947), travel writer from Tucson * ...

, Jackie Sheldon and Tom Fairfoul, were banned from football for life. The incident later became known as the ' 1915 British football betting scandal', in what was the first major betting scandal to hit the sport. For his service in

, Pursell's ban was lifted, allowing him to continue his career. Pursell never broke into the Liverpool starting line-up, and was only selected twice during the 1919–20 season, both times at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

and both times against Liverpool's bitterest rivals, Man United on

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1919 and Everton the following day. Pursell left Liverpool in May 1920, having made 112 appearances in all competitions for the "Reds".

Port Vale

He signed with

, thereby joining his brother Peter Pursell for the first time. The two played alongside each other, and were so moved by a public plea by chairman Frank Huntbach for supporters to buy shares in the club that they each bought £5 worth of shares. He made 38

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

appearances in 1920–21. The brothers hit their stride by 1922, allowing goalkeeper

Teddy Peers Edward John Peers (31 December 1886 – 20 September 1935) was a Wales international football goalkeeper. He won 12 caps for Wales and spent 1911 to 1921 at Wolverhampton Wanderers and then January 1922 to May 1923 at Port Vale. Career Peers p ...

to be little more than a spectator as the club went on a run of seven games without conceding a goal. However 29 appearances into the 1921–22 campaign, he broke his leg in April 1922, causing his retirement the following month.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Liverpool *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

runner-up:

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pursell, Bob 1889 births 1974 deaths People from Campbeltown Footballers from Argyll and Bute Scottish men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Queen's Park F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players British military personnel of World War I Port Vale F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Sportspeople involved in betting scandals