Gordon Marshall (born 2 July 1939 in

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

, Surrey) is a former

Anglo-Scot Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from, the Angles, England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people o ...

tish professional

football goalkeeper 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 ca ...

who played in the top flights of both Scotland and England in a 22-year senior career.

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 5 major medals in his 7 years at Tynecastle. He missed only 3 matches in Hearts' 1957–58

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

-winning campaign and only 1 match during the 1959–60 season, when they won a League and

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. However, in 1963

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

bid £18,000 for his services and, with future Scotland international

Jim Cruickshank James Fergus Cruickshank (13 April 1941 – 18 November 2010) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Heart of Midlothian through most of the 1960s and 1970s, making nearly 400 league appearances. He had brief spe ...

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 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 ...

. Marshall soon became the first-choice goalkeeper as manager

Joe Harvey Joseph Harvey (11 June 1918 – 24 February 1989) was an English football player and later manager. He spent much of his career at Newcastle United; he was the club's longest serving captain, manager, and, as of 2022, the last to win a major ...

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

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 ...

for £17,500 in 1968. His time in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

was brief though, and after only 7 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

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 ...

. He was a back-up to

Denis Connaghan Denis Connaghan (9 January 1945 – 14 January 2024) was a Scottish football goalkeeper, who played for Celtic, St Mirren, Morton and Clyde. Connaghan began his career at Celtic, but was released in 1963. After a spell in junior football wi ...

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

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

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

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. The ...

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-larges ...

before retiring in 1978.

International career

Although born in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Marshall is 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 city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

-born Hibs' forward

Joe Baker Joseph Henry Baker (17 July 1940 – 6 October 2003) was an England international footballer. Born in Woolton in Liverpool, England, he spent virtually his entire childhood growing up in Motherwell, Scotland. He is notable for being the first ...

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

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 ...

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 concept i ...

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. Becaus ...

, 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 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 ...

. 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 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

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. He also has a daughter, Lesley, who plays basketball and has 58 caps for the National Scottish Basketball team.

Honours

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 ...

: 2 :: 1957–58, 1959–60 *

: 3 :: 1958–59, 1959–60, 1962–63 * Division Two: 1 :: 1964–65

References

External links

Appearances
at londonhearts.com
Appearances
at "Newcastle United – a Statistical Journey" {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Gordon Living people 1939 births Aberdeen F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Celtic F.C. players English footballers England under-23 international footballers English people of Scottish descent Association football goalkeepers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players People 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