David Kennedy Russell (6 July 1863 – 18 January 1918) was a Scottish

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 ...

. Born in

Beith Beith (locally ) is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) afte ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

, centre–half Russell first signed for Scottish club, Stewarton Cunninghamme in 1882. It isn't precisely recorded when he left and joined

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, but it was before November 1884. He joined Preston in their pre–League days and soon gained a reputation as a strong–tackling defender. He was certainly not a player to cross, as he showed in the match against Blackburn Olympic in 1886: Russell chased an opponent down the pitch and kicked him in the back. He was the club's first–choice centre–half when the first

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

season got underway. Playing at centre–half, made his League debut on 22 September 1888 at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

in a match against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. The home team defeated the visitors 3–1. He appeared in 18 of the 22 League matches played by Preston North End in season 1888–89, and was a member of the defence that kept 12 clean–sheets and restricted the opposition to one goal on three occasions. He also played in all 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 ...

ties, scoring in the semi–final, and achieved a winner's medal in the Final which Preston won 3–0 over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. Russell played in all but one of the games the following season as Preston retained their title, and then informed the management team that he no longer wished to play for the club. He moved on 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 ...

, where he spent two seasons, then moved North to

Ardwick Ardwick is an area of Manchester, England, southeast of the city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 19,250. Historically in Lancashire, by the mid-nineteenth century Ardwick had grown from being a village into a pleasant and wealt ...

for one season (1892–93), making 19 appearances (17 League), scoring three goals. (registration & fee required) Russell played for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in season 1895–96 for one season, playing nine times. Russell's appearances for Ardwick and Notts County were in Division Two. He died in

Galston, East Ayrshire Galston (Scots language, Lowland Scots: ''Gauston'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile nan Gall'') is a town in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which has a population of 4,710 (United Kingdom Census 2021, 2022) and is at the heart of the Parishes of Scotland, c ...

in January 1918.

References

External links

Preston biography
1863 births 1918 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from North Ayrshire Sportspeople from Beith Men's association football defenders English Football League players Manchester City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players {{Scotland-footy-defender-1860s-stub