Richard Halliwell Gaskell (11 October 1905 – 23 June 1983) was an English

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

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. Born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, he started his career with

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

side

Wigan Borough Wigan Borough Football Club was an English football club from the town of Wigan, Lancashire. their forerunners were Wigan A.F.C., Wigan County, Wigan United and Wigan Town, County and Town having folded. Beginnings According to the Wigan Ob ...

in September 1926. Two years later, Gaskell joined fellow Third Division North club

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

on a free transfer. One of several new players signed by Nelson during the 1927–28 campaign, he made his debut for the club in the 0–3 defeat away at Durham City on 4 February 1928. Gaskell struggled to make an impact at Seedhill and played just two more matches for Nelson, his final appearance coming in the 0–4 loss to New Brighton on 3 March 1928. He left the club at the end of the season and had a spell with Westhoughton Collieries before returning to the Football League with

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 ...

in February 1929. Gaskell moved to

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

in August 1929 and went on to play for

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

and Parbold before retiring in 1932. Outside of football, he worked as a schoolteacher and was the assistant headmaster at Highfields Secondary Boys' School in Wigan.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaskell, Richard 1905 births 1983 deaths Footballers from Wigan English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wigan Borough F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Darwen F.C. (1870) players Chorley F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen