Elisha Scott (24 August 1893 – 16 May 1959) was a Northern Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

who played for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

from 1912 to 1915 and from 1919 to 1934, and still holds the record as their longest-serving player.

Life and playing career

Elisha Scott played for Linfield and Broadway United before Liverpool manager Tom Watson signed him at 10 am on Sunday 1 September 1912, following a recommendation from Scott's older brother Billy Scott. Liverpool only got the chance to sign Scott when Everton decided that the 19-year-old was too young. Scott was reported as signed by

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

in August 1913, presumably under some sort of loan arrangement. He succeeded Thomas Charles Allison as deputy for the first choice keeper, Arthur Box and played for them in the early part of the 1913–14 season. Scott finally made his Liverpool debut on 1 January 1913 at

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

. The team drew 0–0 with

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

. During the early days of his career, Scott was understudy to

Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, director and writer. He was known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety ...

and only appeared occasionally. 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 ...

interrupted Scott's career for four years. Scott finally got a chance of a run in the Liverpool goal at the end of the season. Scott's goalkeeping position was set in stone when Campbell was allowed to leave in April 1920. Scott established himself as Liverpool's number 1. He was a major part of the back-to-back Championship winning teams of 1922 and 1923, missing just three games of the first title and none in the second. Numerous stories about Scott exist in Liverpool folklore. One such story relates to a 1924 game, after Scott had just made a phenomenal save at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

against

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

. A man appeared from the crowd went over to Scott and kissed him. Scott was part of one of the legendary rivalries of the day along with Everton's

Dixie Dean William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. Dean holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season in top-flight English football, with 60. He is regarded as ...

. The two of them were the main topic of discussion when

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

day was approaching – Everton declared that Dean would score whilst Liverpool disagreed, saying Scott wouldn't let a single shot past. A famous story, possibly apocryphal, associated with the two men was that of how they once encountered each other in Belfast city centre the day before an Ireland versus England game. Dean, famed for his remarkable heading ability, touched his hat and nodded to Scott as they were about to pass only for Scott to respond by diving as if to try to save an imaginary header, much to the initial shock and then delight of the locals who witnessed it while a mildly shocked Dean smiled and quietly continued on his walk. Towards the end of the decade, Scott lost his starting position to another Liverpool goalkeeper, Arthur Riley, but he never gave up the battle for the starting berth. However, at the beginning of the 1930s it was becoming more and more difficult for Scott to get into the line-up. Eventually Scott asked if he could return to his homeland when his old team Belfast Celtic offered him a player-manager role in 1934. Liverpool consented to the request and Scott played the last of his 467 appearances at Chelsea on 21 February 1934 which ended in a 2–0 win for Chelsea. Upon Liverpool's final home match of the season, Scott headed to the director's box to give his adoring fans a farewell speech. Scott played his final game for Belfast Celtic in 1936 at the age of 42. In his time as manager of Belfast Celtic, Scott won 10 Irish League titles, 6

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

s, 3 City Cups, 8 Gold Cups and 5 County Antrim Shields. He died in 1959 and is buried in

Belfast City Cemetery Belfast City Cemetery () is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland. It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and Springfield Road, near Milltown Cemetery. Burial records have been fully digitized and are sear ...

Career statistics

Honours

Player

Liverpool *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1921–22, 1922–23 Belfast Celtic * Irish League: 1918–19, 1935–36 *

: 1917–18 * Gold Cup: 1934–35 *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster F ...

: 1935–36

Manager

Belfast Celtic * Irish League: 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1947–48 *

: 1936–37, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1942–43, 1943–44, 1946–47 * Gold Cup: 1934–35, 1938–39, 1939–40 *

: 1935–36, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1942–43, 1944–45 * City Cup: 1939–40, 1947–48, 1948–49 * Northern Regional League: 1940–41, 1941–42, 1943–44, 1946–47 * Substitute Gold Cup: 1940–41, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47

Sources

*The Official Liverpool FC Illustrated History (Carlton Books 2002), p37.

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website
Player profile
at LFChistory.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Elisha 1893 births 1959 deaths Belfast Celtic F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football goalkeepers Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Association football managers from Northern Ireland Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Irish League representative players Burials at Belfast City Cemetery Ireland (IFA) men's wartime international footballers English Football League players Belfast United F.C. players NIFL Premiership players NIFL Premiership managers Men's association football player-managers