Frank Branscombe

Francis Archer Branscombe (6 May 1889 – 1942) was a Scottish footballer who played mainly as an outside left.[2] The majority of his career was spent at Partick Thistle where he played from 1908 to 1917, making 214 appearances in all competitions and scoring 50 goals;[3] he appeared in the finals of the Glasgow Cup in 1914[4] and the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup in 1916,[5] but finished on the losing side in both. He had loan spells with Vale of Leven and Rangers during World War I – in the period of around six weeks he spent at Ibrox, he managed to score in five different Scottish Football League fixtures out of the seven he played in.[6] In 1917 he left Scotland to work in the wartime munitions industry in Woolwich.[1] He later played for amateur side Dunkeld and Birnham, facing Partick Thistle in the 1923–24 Scottish Cup; the Jags won the tie 11–0.[7]

He had a trial for the Scottish League XI in 1910[2] and played in the Glasgow FA's annual challenge match against Sheffield in 1914.[8]

Branscombe was involved in a tragic incident during a match on Christmas Day 1909 when he slipped on an icy surface in a challenge for the ball with James Main of Hibernian, striking the Scotland defender in the stomach with his boot with some force. Main died from his injuries the following day.[9][10] The incident affected the form of 20-year-old Branscombe for some time.[11]