David Nelson (footballer)

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

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.

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[a]		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[b]	1	30	3
	1954–55[9]		16	0	1	0	3[c]	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.

External links

• David Nelson at arsenal.com