Fred George Martin (13 May 1929 – 20 August 2013) was a Scottish 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 ...
, who played as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
. His only senior club was
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 ...
, with whom he played for 14 years. He also represented
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
during their first
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
inside forward
Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...
, Martin was converted into a goalkeeper during his period of National Service. He made his Aberdeen debut in his new position in a 3–1 defeat by East Fife in 1949–50, scoring an
own goal
An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
when he fumbled a last minute cross into his net. He recovered from this start and became a regular over the next seven seasons, helping the ''Dons'' to their first League title in 1954–55 and the 1955–56
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 ...
. Martin also featured in three
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1952–53, 1953–54 and 1958–59), although he was on the losing side on each occasion. The latter years of his time at
Pittodrie
Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they wer ...
saw Martin fall victim to a succession of injuries and after making only four appearances during the season, he retired at the end of the 1959–60 campaign.
Scotland career
Martin was chosen to represent the Scottish Football League in 1952 and two years later earned his first full
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
cap in a 1–0 win against
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, making his debut alongside ''Dons'' teammates Paddy Buckley and George Hamilton. He was selected in the Scotland squad for the 1954 World Cup and played in both Scotland's matches, a 1–0 defeat by
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and a 7–0 defeat by
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
. Martin was considered partially responsible for scale of the Uruguayan defeat and dropped, with his inconsistency being highlighted in the media. In the opinion of Scottish football journalist and historian
Bob Crampsey
Robert Anthony Crampsey (8 July 1930 – 27 July 2008) was a Scottish association football historian, author, broadcaster and teacher, described as a "much loved Scottish cultural institution" by ''The Times''.
Early life and career
Crampsey wa ...
''"when the mood was upon him, he could be very good, but at other times, played exactly as you would expect an inside-right to play if shoved between the posts."''
Martin was recalled for games against
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
and
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 ...
in late 1954 and early 1955 but on each occasion Scotland lost heavily (4–2 and 7–2 respectively) and his international career was effectively over. He conceded a total of 20 goals in his six games for Scotland.
Post football
After retiring from football, Martin went into the whisky trade and worked for
Dewar's
Dewar's () is a brand of blended Scotch whisky owned by Bacardi, which claims the brand's "White Label" to be the top-selling blended Scotch in the US. Dewar's is also the world's most awarded blended Scotch whisky with more than 1,000 medals e ...
Whisky until he retired in 1994. In 2007, he was one of the inaugural inductees into the Aberdeen Football Club Hall of Fame in recognition of his achievements and legendary status at the club. He died in August 2013 at the age of 84.
See also
*
List of one-club men
List of one-club men may refer to:
* List of one-club men in association football
* List of one-club men in rugby league
* List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
* List of NBA players who have spent ...