Gordon Marshall (2 July 1939 – 6 February 2025) was an Anglo-Scottish professional football goalkeeper who played in the top flights of both Scotland and England in a 22-year senior career. Marshall played for Heart of Midlothian,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, Hibernian,

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 Foot ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

. He was also capped for England at Under 23 Level.

Club career

Heart of Midlothian

Marshall began his career with Heart of Midlothian, making his debut aged only 17 in 1956. Within a season he had replaced Wilson Brown as Hearts regular custodian and was to play a significant part in one of the most successful eras in the ''Maroons history, collecting five major medals in his seven years at Tynecastle. He missed only three matches in Hearts' 1957–58 League-winning campaign and only one match during the 1959–60 season, when they won a League and League Cup

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. However, in 1963

bid £18,000 for his services and, with future Scotland international Jim Cruickshank in reserve, Hearts decided to sell.

Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest

The ''Magpies'', one of the leading sides in England in the early 1950s, were by this stage floundering in the Second Division. Marshall soon became the first-choice goalkeeper as manager

Joe Harvey Joseph Harvey (11 June 1918 – 24 February 1989) was an English association football, football player and manager. He spent much of his career at Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United; he was the club's longest serving captain, manager, an ...

successfully rebuilt the side, culminating in promotion as champions in 1964–65. After several seasons of consolidation in the top flight, Newcastle sold Marshall to

for £17,500 in 1968. His time in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

was brief though, and after only seven appearances he was allowed to leave at the end of the 1968–69 season.

Return to Scotland

Hibernian finished third in Marshall's first full season with them but struggled during the next campaign and at its conclusion he was transferred to

. He was a back-up to Denis Connaghan and then Evan Williams, and he didn't play for Celtic's first team in the domestic competitions. However, Gordon Marshall played for Celtic in the European Cup against Boldklub 1903 in Copenhagen. Marshall then signed for

as cover for Bobby Clark in early 1972. He played nine games for the ''Dons'' as they achieved a second place league finish in 1971–72, but he left for newly promoted

in the following summer. Marshall spent the final six years of his playing career with the ''Red Lichties'', earning a testimonial. He helped them maintain their status in the top flight until league reconstruction in 1975–76 created a ten-team Premier Division. He was a member of the giant-killing side of 1976–77 which knocked old club Hibs out of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-largest ...

before retiring in 1978.

International career

Although born in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, Marshall was of Scottish ancestry and was raised in Edinburgh. However, unlike current eligibility regulations that allow players to represent a country based on residence or grand-parental links, those enforced by the British football associations in the 1960s only allowed players to represent the country they were born in. Thus Marshall, similar to his contemporary,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

-born Hibs' forward

Joe Baker Joseph Henry Baker (17 August 1940 – 6 October 2003) was an England international footballer who played at club level for Hibernian, Torino, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Raith Rovers. At the age of 26 he achieved the feat ...

, was decreed English in footballing terms, regardless of any personal affiliation he felt to Scotland. Both Marshall and Baker represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at Under-23 level, with Baker later earning selection to the full side. Marshall himself was reputedly watched by Sir Alf Ramsey with regard to selection for England's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

squad but eventually passed over in favour of the more celebrated trio of

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. As banks ...

, Springett and Bonetti.

Post-retirement

Marshall turned part-time upon joining Arbroath and simultaneously invested in a newsagents in West Maitland Street in Edinburgh's West End, a venture he continued to run after his playing retirement in 1978. He retained a keen interest in football, regularly watching his first club Hearts, and raised two sons who developed into professional players. Gordon Jnr., also a goalkeeper, started off with Rangers, later joined

and eventually earned a full cap for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Scott, a defender, played for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. He also has a daughter, Lesley, who plays basketball and has 58 caps for the National Scottish Basketball team. Marshall died on 6 February 2025, at the age of 85.

Honours

Heart of Midlothian * Scottish League: 1957–58, 1959–60 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

: 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63 Newcastle United * Division Two: 1964–65

References

External links

*
Appearances
at londonhearts.com
Gordon Marshall
player profile at "toon1892.com – a site for NUFC fans everywhere" {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Gordon 1939 births 2025 deaths Aberdeen F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Celtic F.C. players English men's footballers England men's under-23 international footballers English people of Scottish descent Men's association football goalkeepers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Sportspeople from Farnham Nottingham Forest F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Dalkeith Thistle F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Footballers from Edinburgh Footballers from Surrey