Francis Marshall (1904 – 14 July 1928) was a Scottish professional
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 ...
who played in the
Football League for
Brentford and
Gillingham as an
inside forward
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
. He made over 100 appearances for the latter club.
Career
Marshall began his career in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
as a youth with
Shawfield Juniors and progressed to play for hometown club
Shettleston
Shettleston ( sco, Shuttlestoun, gd, Baile Nighean Sheadna) is a district in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland.
Toponymy
The origin of the name 'Shettleston' is not clear and, like many place-names of possibly medieval origin, has had a mult ...
.
He had trial spells with
Scottish league
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 ...
clubs
Rangers,
Falkirk and
Partick Thistle, before moving to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
to join
Third Division South
The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...
club
Gillingham in 1924.
He flourished under
Harry Curtis' management and made over 100 appearances for the Gills.
Curtis departed
Priestfield in May 1926 to take over the manager's job at league rivals
Brentford and Marshall followed in January 1927 for a £500 fee.
He took over as the team's
right half for the remainder of the
1926–27 season and made 21 appearances.
He failed to make an appearance during the
1927–28 season due to illness.
Personal life
Marshall returned to
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
for a summer holiday in 1927 and caught
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
, from which he died in July 1928.
Career statistics
References
1904 births
1928 deaths
Footballers from Glasgow
Scottish footballers
English Football League players
Scottish Football League players
Shawfield F.C. players
Rangers F.C. players
Falkirk F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
Brentford F.C. players
Glasgow United F.C. players
Association football inside forwards
Association football wing halves
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis deaths in Scotland
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