Frank Watkin (30 March 1904 – 26 January 1979) was an English

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 at

centre-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 ...

for

Congleton Town Congleton Town Football Club is an association football club based in Congleton, Cheshire, England. They currently play in the and are full members of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club have played in a number of regional league ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, and

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 ...

. He won the

Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

title with both Stoke and Vale, but never nailed down a regular first team place despite scoring a combined total of 12 goals in 18 league games for the two clubs. His brother,

Arthur Watkin Arthur Watkin (30 July 1895 – 27 August 1972) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke. His brother Frank Watkin was also a footballer who played for Stoke. Career Watkin was born in Burslem and joined Stoke in ...

, was also a footballer who played for Stoke.

Career

Watkin played for

, before joining

. He featured in five

games in the 1926–27 title winning season, and scored in three games in a row: a 2–1 win over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

(12 March), a 2–2 draw with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

Edgeley Park Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for rugby league club Stockport RFC in 1891, by 1903, the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in. Edgeley Park is an all-seater stadium hold ...

(19 March), and a 4–0 home win over

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

(26 March). However this was the extent of his appearances with the "Potters". He was signed by local rivals

in June 1929. He picked up a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury in a 2–2 draw at

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

on 19 October 1929, which kept him on the sidelines for four months. He made his return in style, gaining revenge over Rotherham by scoring five goals in a 7–1 win over them at the reverse fixture at

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

on 22 February. He finished the 1929–30 Third Division North title winning season with nine goals in 13 appearances. He struggled to nail down a place in the side though, and never featured in the 1930–31

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 ...

season. He was given a free transfer back to former club Congleton in April 1931.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Stoke City *

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

: 1926–27 Port Vale *

: 1929–30

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkin, Frank Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Congleton Town F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players 1904 births 1979 deaths