Charles Neilson (27 November 1889 – 1 June 1916) 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 lea ...

who played as an

outside left 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 the

Scottish League 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 ...

for

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Personal life

Neilson attended

Ellon Ellon may refer to: *Ellon, Aberdeenshire Ellon () is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotland. It is i ...

Primary School and graduated with an MA from

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

in 1913. He trained as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

at Aberdeen Training Centre and became a

teaching assistant A teaching assistant (TA) or education assistant (EA) is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate students; ''undergraduate teach ...

Lossiemouth Lossiemouth () is a town in Moray, Scotland. Originally the port belonging to Elgin, Moray, Elgin, it became an important fishing town. Although there has been over 1,000 years of settlement in the area, the present day town was formed over the ...

Public School. After the outbreak of 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 ...

in September 1914, Neilson enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the

Gordon Highlanders The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Go ...

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

. He was serving as a

company sergeant major The company sergeant major (CSM) is the senior non-commissioned soldier of a company in the armies of many Commonwealth countries, responsible for administration, standards and discipline. In combat, their prime responsibility is the supply of ...

when he was

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near

Neuville-Saint-Vaast Neuville-Saint-Vaast () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France south of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Memorial was built on Hill 145, the highest po ...

, France on 1 June 1916. He was buried in

Marœuil Marœuil (; ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Marœuil is a large farming and light industrial village situated northwest of Arras, at the junction of the D55, D56 and the D60E r ...

British Cemetery, near

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

. His brothers Rolland and

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

(the latter also a footballer) were also killed during the war. Neilson was added to the Aberdeen University Roll of Honour in 1921.

Career statistics

References

Scottish men's footballers 1916 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I 1889 births Gordon Highlanders soldiers Scottish Football League players Aberdeen F.C. players Scottish educators Men's association football outside forwards Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Ellon United F.C. players Military personnel from Angus, Scotland {{Scotland-footy-forward-1880s-stub Footballers from Montrose, Angus 20th-century Scottish sportsmen