David Nelson (footballer)

David Nelson (3 February 1918 – 27 September 1988) was a Scottish professional football player and manager, who played in the Football League for Brentford, Queens Park Rangers, Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace as a wing half.

For the American footballers, see David Nelson (running back) and David Nelson (wide receiver).

David Nelson
Personal information
Full name David Nelson[1]
Date of birth 3 February 1918[1]
Place of birth Douglas Water, Scotland
Date of death 27 September 1988(1988-09-27) (aged 70)[2]
Place of death West Haven, Connecticut, United States[2]
Position(s) Wing half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–1936 Douglas Water Thistle
1936 St Bernard's 10 (7)
1936–1946 Arsenal 27 (4)
1940 → Motherwell (guest)
1942 → Celtic (guest)
→ Tottenham Hotspur (guest)
1945–1946 → Colchester United (guest)
1946–1947 Fulham 23 (3)
1947–1950 Brentford 106 (5)
1950–1952 Queens Park Rangers 31 (0)
1952–1953 Crystal Palace 12 (0)
1953–1955 Ashford Town 44 (2)
Total 253 (21)
Managerial career
1953–1955 Ashford Town (player-manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

A wing half, Nelson began his career with hometown junior club Douglas Water Thistle, before moving to Scottish League Second Division club St Bernard's in January 1936.[3] He scored seven goals in 12 appearances during the second half of the 1935–36 season and moved to England to sign for First Division club Arsenal for a £200 fee in May 1936.[3][4] Nelson made just 9 appearances before the Second World War broke out in September 1939,[5] but he had experienced some joy in the reserve team, winning the London Combination in 1936–37, 1937–38 and 1938–39.[4] Nelson made 164 appearances for the Gunners during the war and also played as a guest for Motherwell, Celtic, Clapton Orient, Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford and Chesterfield during the Second World War.[6] He made further competitive Arsenal appearances during the 1945–46 and 1946–47 seasons,[5] before leaving Highbury in December 1946.[4] Nelson made 29 competitive appearances and scored four goals in over a decade with Arsenal.[4]

Nelson joined Second Division club Fulham in December 1946, as a makeweight in the deal that took Ronnie Rooke to Arsenal.[2] He made 24 appearances and scored four goals before he and teammate Peter Buchanan transferred to newly relegated Second Division club Brentford for a £6,000 deal in August 1947.[6][2][7] Nelson was a regular at wing half and made 113 appearances, scoring five goals,[6] before transferring to Second Division club Queens Park Rangers in February 1950, in exchange for Bill Pointon.[6] He remained at Loftus Road for just over two years and departed having made 31 appearances.[1]

Nelson dropped down to the Third Division South to join Crystal Palace in March 1952, but he made just 12 appearances before his departure the following year.[1][8] Nelson ended his career as player-manager at Kent League club Ashford Town between March 1953 and May 1955.[6][9][10]

Personal life

Nelson served as a sergeant in the British Army during the Second World War.[4] He emigrated to the United States in the late 1950s and worked at a car plant in St. Louis.[2] At the time of his death, he was living in Greenwich, Connecticut.[2]

Career statistics

Player
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
St Bernard's 1935–36[3] Scottish Second Division 10 7 2 0 — 12 7
Arsenal 1936–37[5] First Division 8 3 0 0 — 8 3
1938–39[5] 9 1 0 0 — 9 1
1945–46[5] — 2 0 — 2 0
1946–47[5] First Division 10 0 — — 10 0
Total 27 4 2 0 — 29 4
Colchester United (loan) 1945–46[11] Southern League 3 0 — — 3 0
Fulham 1946–47[7] Second Division 23 3 1 0 — 24 3
Brentford 1947–48[12] Second Division 40 3 2 0 — 42 3
1948–49[12] 40 2 4 0 — 44 2
1949–50[12] 26 0 1 0 — 27 0
Total 106 5 7 0 — 113 5
Queens Park Rangers 1949–50[13] Second Division 13 0 — — 13 0
1950–51[14] 18 0 0 0 — 18 0
Total 31 0 0 0 — 31 0
Ashford Town 1952–53[9] Kent League 4 0 — — 4 0
1953–54[9] 24 2 3 0 3[lower-alpha 2] 1 30 3
1954–55[9] 16 0 1 0 3[lower-alpha 3] 0 20 0
Total 44 2 4 0 6 1 54 3
Career total 244 21 16 0 6 1 266 22
  1. Includes Scottish Cup, FA Cup
  2. 2 appearances and 1 goal in Kent League Cup, 1 goal in Kent Senior Shield
  3. Appearances in Kent Senior Cup

Manager
Managerial record by team and tenure[15]
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
Ashford Town 21 March 1953 31 May 1955 86 24 20 42 027.9
Total 86 24 20 42 027.9

References
  1. "David Nelson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  2. Kaufman, Neilson. "VE Day WW2 players as at May 2020" (PDF). pp. 84–85. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  3. Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
  4. "David Nelson". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  5. "David Nelson". 11v11.com. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  6. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 115. ISBN 0955294916.
  7. "David Nelson". Fulhamweb. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  8. "Dave Nelson". holmesdale.net The Palace Supporters' Website. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  9. "David Nelson Player Profile". The Nuts and Bolts Archive. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  10. "Managers". Nuts and Bolts Archive. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  11. "Dave Nelson – Players – Colchester United". www.coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  12. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 379–382. ISBN 0951526200.
  13. "Seasonal Stats – 1949–50". QPRnet. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  14. "Seasonal Stats – 1950–51". QPRnet. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  15. "David Nelson Manager Profile". Nuts and Bolts Archive. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
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