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.
| 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) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1953–1955 | Ashford Town (player-manager) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
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 left the club in May 1963.[3]
Nelson moved to England to sign for First Division club Arsenal for a £200 fee in May 1936.[4] He made just 9 appearances before the Second World War broke out in September 1939,[5] but had experienced some joy in the reserve team, winning the London Combination in 1936–37, 1937–38 and 1938–29.[4] He made 164 appearances for the Gunners during the war and made further competitive 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 guested for Motherwell, Celtic, Clapton Orient, Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford and Chesterfield during the Second World War and made three appearances for Southern League club Colchester United during the 1945–46 season.[6][7]
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 departing Craven Cottage in July 1947.[2][8]
Nelson and Fulham teammate Peter Buchanan signed for newly relegated Second Division club Brentford in a £6,000 deal in August 1947.[6] He was a regular at wing half and departed Griffin Park in February 1950, having made 113 appearances and scored five goals.[6]
Nelson transferred to Second Division club Queens Park Rangers in February 1950, in an exchange deal 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 sign for Crystal Palace in March 1952, but made just 12 appearances before departing the following year.[1][9]
Nelson ended his career as player-manager at Kent League club Ashford Town between March 1953 and December 1955.[6][10]
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]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | 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[7] | Southern League | 3 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Fulham | 1946–47[8] | Second Division | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 24 | 3 | |
| Brentford | 1947–48[11] | Second Division | 40 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 42 | 3 | |
| 1948–49[11] | 40 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 44 | 2 | |||
| 1949–50[11] | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | |||
| Total | 106 | 5 | 7 | 0 | — | 113 | 5 | |||
| Queens Park Rangers | 1949–50[12] | Second Division | 13 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 1950–51[13] | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| Total | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |||
| Ashford Town | 1952–53[10] | Kent League | 4 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1953–54[10] | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 30 | 3 | ||
| 1954–55[10] | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||
| Total | 44 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 54 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 244 | 21 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 266 | 22 | ||