Francis O'Rourke (5 December 1876 – 24 December 1954) was a Scottish international

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 lea ...

who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

in Scotland for Airdrieonians and in England for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

Career

Born in

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

to a Scottish mother and a father originally form

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

who died in 1881, O'Rourke started his career with Airdrieonians, where he spent eight years and won a Division Two title-winning medal in the 1902–03 season. He won his one and only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 16 March 1907, scoring against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, before signing for

a month later (he had been playing at

Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...

in a friendly for Airdrie, following which the City board woke him from his hotel room in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

to sign for them). He scored on his debut on 6 April 1907 in a 2–1 defeat to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, two in his second game and a fourth goal in his third. O'Rourke finished as top goalscorer with 21 goals in 1907–08, one ahead of strike partner Wallace Smith, including four in a 7–1 victory over

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

as City won the Second Division title. He was again top goal-scorer the following season with 19 goals as he played in every game for City, who stayed up on goal average from

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. He was again top goal-scorer in 1909–10 thanks to three goals in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, although he was one goal behind Robert Whittingham in the league. The club's league position of seventh was beaten in 1910–11 as City came fifth, the club's highest league finish, with O'Rourke scoring 13 goals. The season also saw City win its only piece of major silverware in its history when it defeated

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

in the

1911 FA Cup Final The 1911 FA Cup final was the 40th FA Cup final. It was contested by Bradford City and Newcastle United. The first game resulted in a goalless draw at Crystal Palace. A single goal scored by Jimmy Speirs for Bradford won the replay at Old Traf ...

. O'Rourke scored just once in the run to the final when he netted the first goal in the 3–0 semi-final victory over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. The first game of the final had finished 0–0 with the only goal of the replay being scored by captain Jimmy Speirs. Some sources has credited the goal to O'Rourke, but he denied touching the ball. O'Rourke was now 32 and his games and goals dried up, as he made just 46 more appearances in the final four seasons before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, netting 11 goals. His final tally of 88 goals from 192 league appearances stood as a club record for 69 years until Bobby Campbell broke it in October 1984 on his way to 121 club league goals. His playing contract was terminated in September 1922, though his last league game came in 1914. He remained as first-team trainer until 1926 when he retired to Scotland, where he died in

Bargeddie Bargeddie (; ) is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, just inside the suburban fringe of Glasgow, east of the city centre, and close to the junction of the M73 and M8 motorways. The nearest major town is Coatbridge, to the east. Histo ...

on Christmas Eve 1954, aged 77.

International goals

Honours

Airdrieonians *

Scottish Division Two The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct 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 k ...

: 1902–03 Bradford City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1907–08 *

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

References

External links

Frank O'Rourke's international career
London Hearts Supporters Club {{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Frank 1876 births 1954 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from North Lanarkshire Scottish people of Irish descent Scotland men's international footballers Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Albion Rovers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football forwards Scottish football coaches Scottish Football League players English Football League players People from Cleland, North Lanarkshire