Francis Carr Hudspeth (20 April 1890 – 5 February 1963) 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 most notably played as a defender for

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 ...

. Hudspeth spent nineteen seasons at Newcastle, from 1910 to 1929. This makes him the joint longest servant for the club along with

Billy McCracken William Robert McCracken (29 January 1883 – 20 January 1979) was a Northern Irish footballer who played as a defender. He is famous for inventing the offside trap. He was a cousin of Robert McCracken who also had a career as a professional f ...

. During his time at the club he became a popular figure amongst the fans and gained the nickname 'Old Surefoot' for his reliability. He captained the team from 1923 to 1926 but was demoted to vice-captain following Hughie Gallacher's arrival at the club. Hudspeth was also known for his ability to score penalties and 25 of his 37 goals at Newcastle came from the penalty spot. He is second only to

Jimmy Lawrence James Lawrence (16 February 1879 – 21 November 1934) was a Scottish football player and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Newcastle United between 1904 and 1922. Career Playing career Born in Partick, Lawrence's first club was Partick At ...

for making the highest number of appearances for Newcastle, taking part in 472 games. He also 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 international level.

Personal life

Hudspeth served as an

able seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References

1890 births 1963 deaths English footballers Newcastle United F.C. players England international footballers England wartime international footballers Royal Navy personnel of World War I Association football fullbacks Sportspeople from North Shields Footballers from Tyne and Wear English Football League players Royal Navy sailors People from Percy Main FA Cup Final players {{England-footy-defender-1890s-stub