George Marshall (8 July 1869 – December 1938) was an English amateur

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 defence for Southampton St. Mary's in the 1890s. He was the only player to appear in both Southampton's first-ever

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 ...

match and first-ever League match. Described as a "''sturdy, reliable defender''", he was equally at home at either full-back or half-back. Marshall was also a cricketer with

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

Football career

Marshall was born in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and played

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

in his youth before converting to "soccer", joining the newly formed St. Mary's Football Club in 1888. He made his first competitive appearance for St. Mary's in 1891, helping the club to win the

Hampshire Senior Cup The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1887 and has been contested every year since, with the exception of 1914 to 1919 when it was p ...

, defeating a team from the Royal Engineers,

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

3–1 at the County Ground. The following season, the "Saints" entered the

for the first time, being drawn away to

Warmley Warmley is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Warmley is situated in between Bristol and Bath. It is a parish, with its own church, and has some minor landmarks, such as a World War One memorial the focus of Remembrance Services, and ...

(near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

) in the first qualifying round where they won comfortably 4–1, with Marshall playing at

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Although the Saints defeated

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7–0 in the next round, they were subsequently disqualified for fielding two ineligible players. Despite the disappointment of the FA Cup exit, Marshall once again helped the team to claim the Hampshire Senior Cup in March 1892, and was called up to play for Hampshire. In each of the next two seasons, the Saints were defeated in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup, going down 4–0 to

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

at the

Antelope Ground The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary' ...

in October 1892 and 2–1 at

in November 1893. In

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

, Southampton were one of the nine founder members of the Southern League, which had been created to enable clubs in southern England, who were not admitted to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

to play competitive football on a regular basis. Marshall played in all but two of the League matches in the inaugural season, at right-back with Bill Jeffrey alongside him on the left. At the end of the season, the Saints were in third place in the league, behind Millwall Athletic and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. Marshall also played in all five matches in the

, where they reached the

First round proper First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (number), one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, D ...

for the first time, going down 4–1 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 ...

of the First Division with two goals from

Thomas Rose Thomas Rose may refer to: * Thomas G. Rose (1901–1979), English cricketer * Thomas M. Rose (born 1948), U.S. federal judge * Thomas Rose (RAF officer) (1895–1968), British flying ace * Thomas Rose (died 1837), publican and pioneer settler i ...

. At the start of the following season, Marshall was moved forward to

left-half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

although he missed several matches through injury, making only eight league appearances. Having played in every FA Cup match since the Saints first entered in 1891, Marshall missed the match at home to

on 23 November 1895, when he was replaced by

Joe Rogers Joe Rogers may refer to: *Joe Rogers (politician) (1964–2013), Lieutenant Governor of Colorado 1999–2003 *Joe Rogers (businessman) (1919–2017), American businessman, co-founder of Waffle House * Joe Rogers Jr. (born 1950/51), American busines ...

. Although Marshall regained his place for the next round, he was again not selected for the

match against

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

, with John Hodgkinson taking over, as the Saints went down 3–2. In the summer of 1896, as a result of his injuries, Marshall retired from football to concentrate on his career with the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

. In his six seasons with Southampton, he made a total of 36 appearances in the Southern League or FA Cup, plus many more in friendlies and local cup competitions.

Cricket career

Marshall was also an occasional cricketer and made one first-eleven appearance for

against the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) in June 1894, when he scored a total of five runs.Hampshire v Marylebone Cricket Club June 1894 (Scorecard)
/ref> He later went to stand as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

at the County Ground.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, George 1869 births 1938 deaths Footballers from Southampton English men's footballers Southern Football League players Southampton F.C. players English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Men's association football defenders Cricketers from Southampton