David Nelson (footballer)
Scottish footballer and manager
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Nelson (3 February 1918 – 27 September 1988) was a Scottish professional football player and manager, who played in the Football League for Brentford, Queens Park Rangers, Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace as a wing half.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Nelson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 3 February 1918[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Douglas Water, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 27 September 1988 (aged 70)[2] | ||
| Place of death | West Haven, Connecticut, United States[2] | ||
| Position | Wing half | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1936 | Douglas Water Thistle | ||
| 1936 | St Bernard's | 10 | (7) |
| 1936–1946 | Arsenal | 27 | (4) |
| 1940 | → Motherwell (guest) | ||
| 1942 | → Celtic (guest) | ||
| → Tottenham Hotspur (guest) | |||
| 1945–1946 | → Colchester United (guest) | ||
| 1946–1947 | Fulham | 23 | (3) |
| 1947–1950 | Brentford | 106 | (5) |
| 1950–1952 | Queens Park Rangers | 31 | (0) |
| 1952–1953 | Crystal Palace | 12 | (0) |
| 1953–1955 | Ashford Town | 44 | (2) |
| Total | 253 | (21) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1953–1955 | Ashford Town (player-manager) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
A wing half, Nelson began his career with hometown junior club Douglas Water Thistle, before moving to Scottish League Second Division club St Bernard's in January 1936.[3] He scored seven goals in 12 appearances during the second half of the 1935–36 season and moved to England to sign for First Division club Arsenal for a £200 fee in May 1936.[3][4] Nelson made just 9 appearances before the Second World War broke out in September 1939,[5] but he had experienced some joy in the reserve team, winning the London Combination in 1936–37, 1937–38 and 1938–39.[4] Nelson made 164 appearances for the Gunners during the war and also played as a guest for Motherwell, Celtic, Clapton Orient, Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford and Chesterfield during the Second World War.[6] He made further competitive Arsenal appearances during the 1945–46 and 1946–47 seasons,[5] before leaving Highbury in December 1946.[4] Nelson made 29 competitive appearances and scored four goals in over a decade with Arsenal.[4]
Nelson joined Second Division club Fulham in December 1946, as a makeweight in the deal that took Ronnie Rooke to Arsenal.[2] He made 24 appearances and scored four goals before he and teammate Peter Buchanan transferred to newly relegated Second Division club Brentford for a £6,000 deal in August 1947.[6][2][7] Nelson was a regular at wing half and made 113 appearances, scoring five goals,[6] before transferring to Second Division club Queens Park Rangers in February 1950, in exchange for Bill Pointon.[6] He remained at Loftus Road for just over two years and departed having made 31 appearances.[1]
Nelson dropped down to the Third Division South to join Crystal Palace in March 1952, but he made just 12 appearances before his departure the following year.[1][8] Nelson ended his career as player-manager at Kent League club Ashford Town between March 1953 and May 1955.[6][9][10]
Personal life
Nelson served as a sergeant in the British Army during the Second World War.[4] He emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s and worked at a car plant in St. Louis.[2] At the time of his death, he was living in Greenwich, Connecticut.[2]
Career statistics
Player
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| St Bernard's | 1935–36[3] | Scottish Second Division | 10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | 12 | 7 | |
| Arsenal | 1936–37[5] | First Division | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 3 | |
| 1938–39[5] | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | |||
| 1945–46[5] | — | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 1946–47[5] | First Division | 10 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Total | 27 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | 29 | 4 | |||
| Colchester United (loan) | 1945–46[11] | Southern League | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Fulham | 1946–47[7] | Second Division | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 24 | 3 | |
| Brentford | 1947–48[12] | Second Division | 40 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 42 | 3 | |
| 1948–49[12] | 40 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 44 | 2 | |||
| 1949–50[12] | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | |||
| Total | 106 | 5 | 7 | 0 | — | 113 | 5 | |||
| Queens Park Rangers | 1949–50[13] | Second Division | 13 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 1950–51[14] | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| Total | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |||
| Ashford Town | 1952–53[9] | Kent League | 4 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1953–54[9] | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3[b] | 1 | 30 | 3 | ||
| 1954–55[9] | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| Total | 44 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 54 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 244 | 21 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 266 | 22 | ||
- Includes Scottish Cup, FA Cup
- 2 appearances and 1 goal in Kent League Cup, 1 goal in Kent Senior Shield
- Appearances in Kent Senior Cup
Manager
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Ashford Town | 21 March 1953 | 31 May 1955 | 86 | 24 | 20 | 42 | 27.9 |
| Total | 86 | 24 | 20 | 42 | 27.9 | ||