Joseph French was an English professional

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-half 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 ...

for

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 New Brompton in the 1900s.

Football career

French was born in

and was playing football in the local parks, where he was spotted by

Harry Haynes Harry Haynes (21 April 1873 – 29 May 1902) was an English footballer who played as a full back for Walsall Town Swifts, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Small Heath and Southampton in the 1890s. Career Midlands Haynes was born in Walsall and afte ...

who was coming to the end of his football career. French was given a trial by the Southern League champions

in the summer of 1899 which led to a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

contract. French spent most of his time at The Dell in the reserves but was a "''capable understudy''" to

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 ...

international Arthur Chadwick. French made his first-team debut playing at

on 31 March 1900 in a 3–2 victory over Bedminster, when Chadwick was one of several players who had been "rested" having played in the

FA Cup semi-final The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. Location The semi-finals have always been contested at neutr ...

against Millwall on the previous Saturday, followed by his England debut against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on Monday 26 March and the FA Cup semi-final replay on Wednesday 28 March, when the "Saints" won 3–0 to reach the

Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

for the second time in three seasons. As Chadwick was still away on England duty, French retained his place for two further matches, before Chadwick's return to the side at the start of a run of four defeats, as a consequence of which Southampton fell away in the league, eventually finishing in third place. French made three further appearances in September/October 1900, before relinquishing the centre-half shirt to new signing

Bert Lee William Herbert Lee (11 June 1880 – 23 January 1946) was an English songwriter. He wrote for music hall and the musical stage, often in partnership with R. P. Weston. Life and career Lee was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England.Richard A ...

, who was to go on to make nearly 300 appearances for the "Saints". In the summer of 1901, French was transferred to fellow Southern League side, New Brompton where he made 17 appearances before returning to Southampton to play for

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Joe 1880s births Year of death missing Footballers from Southampton English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Southampton F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Freemantle F.C. players Southern Football League players