Francis Joseph O'Donnell (31 August 1911 – 4 September 1952) was a Scottish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er. He was the older brother of fellow footballer Hugh O'Donnell. The siblings stayed together for the first sixteen years of their careers, both playing concurrently for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

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 ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. He also made six appearances for the Scotland national team.

Career

O'Donnell started his professional career with

. O'Donnell made 78

Scottish league The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional association football, football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers F.C., Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, wh ...

appearances and scored 51 goals,Celtic player O'Donnell, Francis
FitbaStats which equated to an average of a goal every 1.5 games. His scoring touch remained when he signed for

in 1935, netting 36 goals in 92 league games. He scored a consolation goal as Preston lost in the

1937 FA Cup Final The 1937 FA Cup Final was contested by Sunderland and Preston North End at Wembley. Sunderland won 3–1, with goals by Bobby Gurney, Raich Carter and Eddie Burbanks. Frank O'Donnell's strike on 44 minutes had put Preston ahead. It was the ...

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 ...

. In 1937, O'Donnell signed for Preston's

West Lancashire derby The West Lancashire derby (sometimes also known as the '' M55 derby'') is a local rivalry in English football between Lancashire clubs Blackpool and Preston North End. The derby has taken place across all four tiers of English football, but not t ...

rivals

. He made his Blackpool debut on 4 December 1937, in a draw at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He scored his first goal for the club two weeks later, in a 2–1 victory at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

. He went on to score another nine goals in his remaining fourteen games of the season. The following season, 1938–39, O'Donnell scored seven goals in thirteen appearances, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 5–1 victory over

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

on 8 October 1938. O'Donnell left Blackpool during the 1945–46 season, the final inter-war campaign, and signed for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. In his one season at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

, he scored fourteen goals in 29 league appearances. After stints with

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 ...

and

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

, O'Donnell became player/manager of non-league club

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

in 1947. He died just five years later, on 4 September 1952, aged 41.

International career

Following his £10,000 transfer to

Blackpool F.C. Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, th ...

in November 1937, O'Donnell represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on two occasions, adding to the four appearances made while with Preston North End, scoring goals in each of his first two appearances, against England and Austria.

References

;Sources *

External links

O'Donnell's profile at Spartacus Educational
(erroneously states his date of birth as 31 August 1913) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Frank 1911 births 1952 deaths People from Buckhaven Footballers from Fife Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Celtic F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Raith Rovers F.C. players Buxton F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Buxton F.C. managers Brentford F.C. wartime guest players Association football forwards FA Cup Final players Wellesley Juniors F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players