Francis Wallace

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Francis Wallace
Personal information
Full name Francis Jardine Wallace
Date of birth (1909-05-10)10 May 1909
Place of birth Dumfries, Scotland
Date of death January 1994(1994-01-00) (aged 84)
Place of death Bromley, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Position(s) Inside left
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1927–1931 Darlington 43 (7)
1931–1933 Tunbridge Wells Rangers
1933–1934 Folkestone
1934–193? Ramsgate
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Francis Jardine Wallace (10 May 1909 – 1994) was a Scottish professional footballer who made 43 appearances in the English Football League playing as an inside left for Darlington. He also played non-league football for clubs including Tunbridge Wells Rangers, Folkestone and Ramsgate.[a]

Life and career[edit]

Francis Jardine Wallace was born on 10 May 1909 in Dumfries, Scotland.[5]

Wallace signed amateur forms with Football League Third Division North club Darlington in August 1927.[6] He initially played for Darlington's reserve team in the North-Eastern League, and was selected for the Durham County Football Association's Amateur XI to face their Northumberland counterparts in January 1928.[7] Wallace made his Football League debut on 16 April 1928, replacing Harry Lees at inside left for a 4–1 win at home to Nelson; he was reported to "[have given] a good display",[8] and kept his place for the next match, after which Lees returned to the side.[9]

He was caught up in the 1928 illegal payments crisis, in which several hundred players registered as amateurs to clubs under the auspices of the Durham Association, 24 of whom were on Darlington's books, were suspended and deemed professional for receiving "tea money" – payments, often very small, over and above reimbursement of the minimal legitimate expenses allowed.[10] He returned to the team in late December 1928, scored against South Shields, and finished the season with two goals from 11 matches.[11] The arrival of Fred Laycock meant Wallace played little the following season, but Laycock moved on, and Wallace began the 1930–31 campaign in the league team. After the team started badly – the Sunday Sun commented on how their third successive home defeat "once more served to demonstrate the unfortunate weakness of the home forward line, for on repeated occasions they blundered and spoiled glorious opportunities"[12] – he lost his place to Reg Siddle, but regained it in December and played out the rest of the season for 26 appearances and five goals.[13] He was reported to be of interest to First Division clubs at a fee of £2,000,[14][4] and took the eye of the Northern Daily Mail's reporter T.F., who described him as "a great provider. A tap here, a gentle push there, a wide sweeping cross-field pass making for rapid progress, and plenty of bustle to help him along."[15] Wallace was placed on Darlington's retained list, but he refused the terms offered for a further season,[16] and eventually the League agreed to his being made open to transfer.[17]

In July 1931, Wallace signed for Tunbridge Wells Rangers, newly admitted to the Southern League Eastern Division as Kent League champions, for a fee of £1,500.[4] He played regularly for the next two seasons – taking time out in May 1932 to marry Netta Alice Beale at St Barnabas Church, Tunbridge Wells[18] – but then became one of numerous players to leave the club because it could not afford to pay summer wages.[19][20][21] Rumours linked him with Wigan Athletic,[21] but instead he joined another Kent-based Southern League club, Folkestone.[20] At the end of the 1933–34 season, there was interest from Football League Second Division club Barnsley and, more locally, Gillingham of the Third Division South, in a player described in the Folkestone Herald as "undoubtedly one of the cleverest footballers Folkestone has ever had", but nothing came of it,[22] and he joined Ramsgate of the Kent League.[23] In his first season, he scored eight goals and was named as one of the two most consistent players in the team,[24] and he signed on for a second.[25]

Wallace died in January 1994 at the age of 84; his death was registered in the Bromley district.[5][26]

Career statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Darlington 1927–28[9] Third Division North 2 0 0 0 2 0
1928–29[11] Third Division North 14 2 1 0 15 2
1929–30[27] Third Division North 5 0 0 0 5 0
1930–31[13] Third Division North 26 5 0 0 26 5
Career total 43 7 1 0 44 7

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Some older sources, e.g. Michael Joyce's Football League Players' Records,[2] list Wallace as joining Queens Park Rangers in 1931, but this would appear to stem from confusion with the name of the club he actually joined, Tunbridge Wells Rangers.[3][4]

Sources[edit]

  • Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Soccerdata. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  • Taylor, Matthew (2013). The Association Game: A History of British Football. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-582-50596-4.
  • Tweddle, Frank (2000). The Definitive Darlington F.C. Nottingham: Soccerdata. ISBN 978-1-899468-15-7.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Veitch, Colin (15 August 1930). "How £4,000 transfers saved Darlington club". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle upon Tyne. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Joyce (2004), p. 269.
  3. ^ Westerberg, Kenneth. "1931/32" (XLS). QPRnet. Ron Norris. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Rangers' latest capture". Kent and Sussex Courier. 31 July 1931. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Player search: Wallace, FJ (Francis)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  6. ^ "New "Quaker" forward". North Mail, Newcastle Daily Chronicle. 26 August 1927. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Amateurs of counties". North Mail, Newcastle Daily Chronicle. 13 January 1928. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Darlington's fine victory". Newcastle Daily Journal, North Star and Courant. 17 April 1928. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Tweddle (2000), p. 29.
  10. ^ Taylor (2013), p. 133.
  11. ^ a b Tweddle (2000), p. 30.
  12. ^ "Woeful front line. Third home defeat for Darlington". Sunday Sun. Newcastle. 14 September 1930. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b Tweddle (2000), p. 32.
  14. ^ Veitch, Colin; Seymour, Stan; Mirror; Judex (8 February 1931). "The Sportsman's Hub". Sunday Sun. Newcastle. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ T.F. (4 April 1931). "Only a point. Dour Darlington deserve their draw". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. ^ "Darlington re-sign 13 players". Northern Daily Mail. West Hartlepool. 22 May 1931. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ "Maycock's fee not reduced". Sunday Sun. Newcastle. 28 June 1931. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Tunbridge Wells weddings. Mr. F. J. Wallace—Miss N. A. Beale". Sevenoaks Chronicle. 6 May 1932. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Mercury (19 August 1932). "New Rangers train at Down Farm". Kent and Sussex Courier. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ a b "With the Rangers". Sevenoaks Chronicle. 22 September 1933. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com. They will, at any rate, have the pleasure of meeting Frank Wallace, who played many fine games for the Rangers. Wallace is a class player, and it was a thousand pities that he could not have been retained at the end of the last season.
  21. ^ a b Ajax (12 May 1933). "Football. What of the Rangers?". Kent and Sussex Courier. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Man in the Stand (30 June 1934). "Folkestone F.C. plump for youth". Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Nereis (29 August 1934). "Bright opening. How Ramsgate's new players shaped". East Kent Times and Mail. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com. Emlyn Williams and Ison (popular old stagers) vied with the newcomer, Wallace, of Folkestone, for honours in the forward line.
  24. ^ Nereis (8 May 1935). "Ramsgate F.C. How the games have fared". East Kent Times and Mail. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Football news. Bond for Ramsgate?". East Kent Times and Mail. 26 June 1935. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Francis Jardine Wallace in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007". Ancestry.co.uk. Bromley reg. C22, dist. 2221C, entry 72. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  27. ^ Tweddle (2000), p. 31.
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