Francis Marshall known as Frank Marshall (19 September 1845 – 21 April 1906) was a British schoolmaster, cleric and rugby administrator. A fierce advocate of amateurism in the early years of

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

, his hardline position on payments to players contributed to the schism in the game in 1895 and the birth of the breakaway

Rugby League Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

. Marshall, who opposed the introduction of so-called "broken-time payments", made by clubs in northern England to compensate working men for wages lost while playing matches, has been described as the "witch-finder general, rooting out incipient professionalism". The debate about Marshall continues into the 21st century. In 2021 the Old Almondburians Society sought permission to erect a blue plaque to Marshall on the old schoolhouse. The planning application was rejected by

Kirklees Council Kirklees Council is the local authority providing most local government services for the borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council and one of five constituent councils of the West Yorkshire Combined Aut ...

for whom an officer said "Whether his actions were driven by prejudice towards working class people or by his adherence to the purity of amateurism in Rugby Union is debatable, but his words and actions would be out of place in contemporary society without contextual explanation."

Life

Born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...

, Marshall attended

Brewood Grammar School Brewood Grammar School was a boys' school in the village of Brewood in South Staffordshire, England. Founded in the mid 15th century by the Bishop of Lichfield as a chantry school it was closed by the Dissolution of Chantries Act 1547. It was ...

before studying at St John's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. The headmaster of Almondbury Grammar School, Huddersfield, (now King James's School, Almondbury), Marshall believed rugby was a middle-class pastime. He burnished his reputation as “the man with bell, book and candle facing the evil spirit of professionalism” by banning his own club, Huddersfield, in 1893 for breaching the amateur code.

In literature

Marshall, the author of ''Football: The Rugby Union Game'', first published in 1892, features as a central character in ''Broken Time'', a play by Mick Martin that had its premiere at the

Theatre Royal, Wakefield The Theatre Royal Wakefield is a theatre in Wakefield, England, which dates back to 1894. The theatre was originally known as the ''Theatre Royal and Opera House'' and dates back to the 1770s. Today's theatre was designed in 1894 as the Wakefiel ...

in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Frank History of rugby union in England History of rugby league 19th-century English Anglican priests 1845 births English rugby union referees 1906 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge