David Kennedy Russell (6 July 1863 – 18 January 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 ...

. Born in

Beith Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) after its ''Court ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, centre–half Russell first signed for Scottish club, Stewarton Cunninghamme in 1882. It isn't precisely recorded when he left and joined

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 ...

, but it was before 1886. He joined Preston in their pre–League days and soon gained a reputation as a strong–tackling defender. He was certainly not a player to cross, as he showed in the match against

Blackburn Olympic Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

in 1886: Russell chased an opponent down the pitch and kicked him in the back. He was the club's first–choice centre–half when the first

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

season got underway. Playing at centre–half, made his League debut on 22 September 1888 at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

in a match against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. The home team defeated the visitors 3–1. He appeared in 18 of the 22 League matches played by Preston North End in season 1888–89, and was a member of the defence that kept 12 clean–sheets and restricted the opposition to one goal on three occasions. He also played in all the

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 ...

ties, scoring in the semi–final, and achieved a winner's medal in the Final which Preston won 3–0 over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. Russell played in all but one of the games the following season as Preston retained their title, and then informed the management team that he no longer wished to play for the club. He moved on to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, where he spent two seasons, then moved North to

Ardwick Ardwick is a district of Manchester in North West England, one mile south east of the city centre. The population of the Ardwick Ward at the 2011 census was 19,250. Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from ...

for one season (1892–93), making 19 appearances (17 League), scoring three goals. (registration & fee required) Russell played for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in season 1895–96 for one season, playing nine times. Russell's appearances for Ardwick and Notts County were in Division Two. He died in

Galston, East Ayrshire Galston ( Lowland Scots: ''Gauston'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile nan Gall'') is a municipality in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which has a population of 5,001 (2001) and is at the heart of the civil parish of the same name. It is situated in wooded co ...

in January 1918.

References

External links

Preston biography
1863 births 1918 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from North Ayrshire People from Beith Men's association football defenders English Football League players Manchester City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players {{Scotland-footy-defender-1860s-stub