Frank McPherson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Francis Comber McPherson (14 May 1901 – 5 March 1953) 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 played as a
forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...
. Born in
Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...
, he began his professional career with
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
in the
Scottish Football 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 south ...
, before spending almost 20 years in
The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
with Chesterfield Municipal,
Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...
,
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
,
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
and
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
.


Career


Early career

Born in
Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...
to parents from
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 ...
, McPherson worked as a ship plater for
Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
and played football for the works team, Barrow Shipbuilders.Dykes (1994), pp. 251–2. In April 1919, towards the end of the 1918–19 season, he signed as an amateur for Scottish club
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
, helping them to a fourth-place finish in the Scottish First Division.


Chesterfield Municipal

McPherson returned to Barrow Shipbuilders at the end of the season, and played in their
1919–20 FA Cup The 1919–20 FA Cup was the 45th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup), and the first since the cancellation of all football competitions due to t ...
Preliminary Round defeat to Kells White Star; however, in October 1919, he was signed by Midland League club Chesterfield Municipal, who – either ignoring his cup-tied status or unaware of it entirely – gave him his debut in their FA Cup second qualifying round match against South Normanton Colliery on 25 October; starting at centre-forward, he scored twice as Chesterfield won 5–0. After the match, South Normanton submitted an appeal to
The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
that McPherson should not have been allowed to play, resulting in Chesterfield being disqualified from the competition and McPherson being banned for a month. Chesterfield manager Tom Callaghan protested that he was unaware that McPherson had already played in the FA Cup that season, but McPherson maintained that he had told his manager he was not available for selection. Callaghan offered McPherson £5 to retract that claim, as well as ordering club captain Peter Irvine to back him up; however, he was found out and sacked from his position, never for the football world to hear from him again. McPherson returned to action in a league match against Mexborough Town on 29 November, scoring both Chesterfield goals in a 2–1 win. After two games out of the side, when regular half-back
Arthur Lacey Arthur James Lacey (20 May 1904 – 6 August 1979) was an English professional golfer who finished in the top ten of The Open Championship on four occasions in the 1930s. He also played in the 1933 and 1937 Ryder Cup matches, and was then sele ...
took over at centre-forward, McPherson returned for a 10-game spell at inside left, scoring five goals from that position. He was left out for the game away to Worksop Town, but returned for the next two games at home to Halifax Town and Worksop Town, before losing his position to
Teddy Revill Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer * Tedd ...
for the games against the Grimsby Town and
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
reserve teams. McPherson played out the season with seven consecutive matches at centre-forward, scoring four more goals to finish with 11 league goals in 20 appearances as Chesterfield won the Midland League. McPherson lost his place in the Chesterfield first team to newly signed centre-forward Tom Smelt at the outset of the 1920–21 season, but Smelt only lasted one match in the position and McPherson was recalled. He played two games at centre-forward then one in each of the inside forward positions, including Chesterfield's 11–0 win over Dronfield Woodhouse in the FA Cup preliminary round on 25 September; however, he failed to score in those four games and did not feature again for another month, making a goalscoring return in a 3–2 defeat to Mexborough Town on 30 October. Despite the goal, he was dropped again for the FA Cup third qualifying round match against Staveley Town, before making his final two appearances for Chesterfield – first at centre-forward at home to Sheffield United Reserves, then at outside left at home to Nottingham Forest Reserves. With just one goal in six league appearances in 1920–21, McPherson finished his Chesterfield career with a total of 12 goals in 26 appearances.


Barrow

Having not played for Chesterfield for more than two months, McPherson returned to Cumbria with
Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...
in February 1921, and helped the team to win the Lancashire Combination title that season. At the end of the season, Barrow were elected as one of the founder members of the
Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...
. In that inaugural season, Barrow finished in 15th place out of the 20 teams, and the following year was even worse, finishing 18th.


Manchester United

McPherson joined Manchester United in May 1923 for a fee of £500, making his first-team debut as an outside left in the first game of the 1923–24 season against
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
on 25 August. He played in all but eight games in his first season with Manchester United, including two appearances in the FA Cup, his two goals coming in consecutive matches – one against
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...
in the league on 5 January 1924, and one against
Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
in the FA Cup on 12 January. All of his games that season were played at outside left, except the final two games of the season against The Wednesday, which he played at centre-forward. Despite that brief run-out at centre-forward, McPherson played exclusively at outside left in 1924–25, missing just four games. He was also a more prolific goalscorer, his seven goals in 38 league appearances helping the club to a second-place finish at the end of the season and promotion back to the First Division. He began the following season as the starting outside left, playing in the first seven games before the re-emergence of Harry Thomas cost him his place, starting with the game against
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
on 26 September 1925. McPherson made a goalscoring return to the team as a centre-forward on 24 October, scoring twice in a 2–0 away win over
Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
; he retained the number 9 shirt for much of the rest of the season, before a three-game spell without scoring culminated in a 7–0 defeat away to Blackburn Rovers; Charlie Rennox, Jimmy Hanson and Chris Taylor shared centre-forward duties for the remaining six games of the season. Despite being dropped for the final six games, McPherson finished the season with a career-high 16 league goals, and a further four in the FA Cup, in which Manchester United reached the semi-finals before being knocked out by
rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
. McPherson's new-found scoring form was attributed to his pace, coupled with a change to the offside law, which now only required two defenders between the attacking player and the opposing goal line for the attacker to be onside. McPherson's form continued into the 1926–27 season, which began with him scoring seven goals in the first four games. To accommodate Joe Spence's move to centre-forward, McPherson moved back to outside left for the game against
Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
on 18 September 1926, before being dropped entirely for the next two games against Cardiff City and
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. The next few games saw McPherson and Spence alternate as centre-forward, before McPherson reclaimed the position more permanently in mid-November, starting with a 3–2 win over Leicester City on 13 November in which he scored twice. He held onto the role for the next two months until the second replay of Manchester United's FA Cup third round tie against
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
on 17 January 1927, after which he spent four games back at outside left. The second half of the season saw a stark difference from the first half – after scoring 16 times in 26 appearances up to 22 January, McPherson failed to find the net for the rest of the season, and only appeared in nine of a potential 17 matches; he missed the game against Aston Villa on 19 February, before an unsettled run of four games in which he played twice at centre-forward and twice at inside left. He was dropped again for the game against The Wednesday on 26 March, and only appeared twice more in the final seven games of the season, against Leicester City on 2 April and against Derby County on 15 April. The 1927–28 season began with McPherson back at outside left for four straight games, but despite scoring in the fourth against The Wednesday on 7 September, he was dropped for the next three games. He returned to the side for a 10-game spell starting with a 3–0 win over
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
on 24 September, scoring four goals in that time. After missing the game against Sheffield United on 10 December, he made a goalscoring return in a 4–1 win over
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 ...
on 17 December. He was dropped again for the trip to
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
three games later on 31 December, before playing six games in a row from 7 January to 4 February, including three appearances at centre-forward in FA Cup games against
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 ...
and
Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
. After missing four games, including cup ties against
Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
and Blackburn Rovers, he was restored to the outside left position for four games in March 1928; he made one final appearance for Manchester United at outside left – a 4–3 defeat to Bury on 14 April 1928. Finishing the season with six goals in 26 league appearances, that brought McPherson's total for Manchester United to 45 goals in 159 appearances.


Manchester Central, Watford and Reading

After a brief stint with Lancashire Combination side Manchester Central at the start of the 1928–29 season, where he played 7 games, scoring 7 times, McPherson was signed by
Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
for £850 in September 1928. He made his Watford debut at home to
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
on 29 September, scoring both goals in a 6–2 defeat, before scoring a further three goals in the next two games. Despite his prodigious start in a Watford shirt, he missed their next match at home to Luton Town, but then went on an eight-game run in which he scored a further eight goals, including a hat-trick at home to Southend United. The next match – away to Northampton Town on 22 December – was the last one McPherson would miss all season, and after two further hat-tricks – away to Fulham on 9 February and at home to
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on 29 March – he finished the season with 33 goals in 33 league appearances, a club record that stood until
Cliff Holton Clifford Charles Holton (29 April 1929 – 31 May 1996) was an English footballer. Born in Oxford, Holton played as a full back for non-league Oxford City as a youth, before joining Arsenal in October 1947 at the age of 18. He spent three sea ...
scored 42 goals in Watford's 1959–60 season, in which they achieved promotion from the
Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
. McPherson was ever-present for the first 23 games of the 1929–30 season, and by 26 December, he had scored 22 of Watford's 29 total goals up to that point; Arthur Woodward (2) was the only other player to have scored more than once. The match against
Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
on 28 December was McPherson's first absence of the season. He made eight more appearances after his return, scoring three goals, before he was sold to
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
in February 1930 for a fee of £1,500 and George James in part-exchange. After five seasons with Reading, McPherson returned to Watford in June 1933. He began the 1933–34 season with a run of six games in the team, scoring twice, but then made just one appearance in the next three months. He then had a short spell back in the team, playing three games towards the end of December, but it did not last and he only made one more appearance before the end of the season, in the penultimate game against Swindon Town on 28 April 1934; Watford won 4–0 with McPherson scoring twice. McPherson began the 1934–35 season by playing in the first two games away to
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
and at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, but could not find the target and was not selected for the next 32 Watford matches. He made his comeback on 28 February, almost six months to the day after his last match, playing in Watford's
Third Division South Cup The Football League Third Division South Cup was a football knockout competition open to teams competing in Football League Third Division South. The competition was first held in 1933–34 and ran until the 1938–39 season. The cup was revived ...
third round replay against Queens Park Rangers. He then missed another month before returning for the Third Division South Cup semi-final against
Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...
on 28 March; although he did not score and the match finished 0–0, McPherson scored both Watford goals in the replay the following week to earn them a place in the final against Bristol Rovers, which Watford lost 3–2. These performances came as part of a seven-game run in the team, including four league games, in which McPherson scored once (in a 5–2 away defeat to
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
). The league game against Exeter City on 19 April was his last appearance of the season. It took McPherson until 12 October to make his first appearance of the 1935–36 season, a 5–2 defeat at home to Newport County, but although he scored, he did not appear again for three months. He made 15 more appearances that season, all consecutively between 15 January and 10 April, scoring nine goals, including three against Leicester City in the FA Cup; Leicester's eventual 4–3 victory meant that McPherson's hat-trick is believed to have made history as the first scored for a losing side in the FA Cup proper. McPherson's final appearance for Watford was a 2–1 home defeat to Notts County on 10 April. He was released by Watford at the end of the season and returned to Barrow-in-Furness, where he worked again in the shipyards. In March 1937, he re-signed for Barrow, where he saw out his career with a final two goals in three appearances.Joyce (2004), p. 174. After his retirement from football, McPherson became the licensee of the Greaves Arms Hotel in
Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
, a position he held until his sudden death in
Davyhulme Davyhulme is an area of Greater Manchester, England, historically in Lancashire. The population at the 2011 census was 19,634. Davyhulme Sewage Works The area is notable for Davyhulme Sewage Works, one of the largest wastewater treatment pl ...
on 5 March 1953.


Career statistics


References

;General * * ;Specific


External links


Profile
at StretfordEnd.co.uk

at MUFCInfo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcpherson, Frank 1901 births 1953 deaths Footballers from Barrow-in-Furness English men's footballers Partick Thistle F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Manchester Central F.C. players Watford F.C. players Footballers from Lancashire Reading F.C. players Men's association football forwards