Robert Preston (1895 – May 1945) 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 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 Heart of Midlothian and in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

and

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. He played as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Career

Preston signed for Heart of Midlothian from Bathgate F.C. shortly before 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 November 1914 he was among the Hearts players who volunteered to join Sir George McCrae's new battalion of the Royal Scots. Military service took him away from Edinburgh for five years, so it was 1919 before he made his debut for Hearts in the

Scottish League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the o ...

. He remained with the club until the 1922–23 season. Preston then came to England to play for

, then a Southern League club, and moved on to

Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

club

in 1923. He made 147 appearances for the club in all competitions. His last game for Argyle came at the end of the 1927–28 season, and he returned to Torquay United, by then a Football League team, for the following season.

Personal life

After retiring from playing, Preston moved to Ireland and became a publican. He died in 1945. His elder brother

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Census returns - Census - Search results

ScotlandsPeople The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) is the previous name of the National Records of Scotland (NRS), and are the national archives of Scotland, based in Edinburgh. The NAS claims to have one of the most varied collection of archives in Europe ...

was also a footballer who played for

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

and was selected for the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

References

1895 births 1945 deaths Date of death missing Footballers from Edinburgh People from Loanhead Footballers from Midlothian Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Scottish Football League players Royal Scots soldiers Southern Football League players English Football League players Bathgate F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. managers League of Ireland managers Scottish football managers British Army personnel of World War I McCrae's Battalion Military personnel from Midlothian 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-defender-1890s-stub