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Personal
Fullname: Francis O’Donnell
aka: Frank O’Donnell
Born: 30 Aug 1911
Died: 4 Sep 1952, Macclesfield
Birthplace: Buckhaven
Signed: 8 Sep 1930
Left: 19 May 1935 (to Preston North End)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: Hamilton Accies 1-0 Celtic, League, 1932
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 6 caps
International Goals: 2
Biog
Frank O’Donnell signed for Celtic in September 1930 from Fife outfit Wellesley Juniors.
From a big family, Francis O’Donnell was one of 15 children, and born in Buckhaven on 31st August 1913. He and his brother Hugh O’Donnell, played local football for Wellesley Juniors, and both went on to play for Celtic, even in the same side in various matches.
A centre-forward, he made his first team debut in a 1-0 league defeat at Hamilton on January 23rd 1932. Standing at 6 foot, Frank O’Donnell was criticised by some for being too immobile but he possessed good close control and a good footballing brain. He was described as:
“a brainy footballer…forceful, bustling,… makes his presence felt… a cool calculating shot… he chases… regains the ball… shows good fighting spirit…“.
Later he was criticised: “He needs to speed up his game…he’s too gentlemanly.…”.
In many ways his goals kept Celtic afloat when things were rough, such as in season 1933-34. Notably, in a ten game stretch at the tail end of that season (which included two games in the Glasgow Charity Cup) he scored an incredible 17 goals, putting even the great Jimmy McGrory in the shade.
He scored a number of goals in the following season of 1934-35, although seemed to be out the side for a number of games in the second half of the season as the great Crum and McGrory took his place.
Regardless of the slip in the rankings for the first team, he signed off with a goal in his final match, a 7-3 victory over Falkirk, in which his brother also scored in the same match.
In total, he scored a fabulous 58 goals in 83 league & Scottish Cup appearances for Celtic before moving to Preston NE in May 1935 with his brother.
With such a excellent record, you have to wonder why on earth he was never kept on, but apparently he had his barrackers. Some things never change with supporters. Said to lack some pace and to be too ‘gentlemanly‘ and so on as said earlier. Maybe some of the support didn’t realise what a good player he was until he had gone.
In fairness, he was competing with Jimmy McGrory, a player who was not only the best at Celtic at the time, but one of the greatest players in any side in any era.
Sadly, as Celtic had begun to slip, he was to leave without any major silverware (he didn’t play in the run to the Scottish Cup final win in 1933).
Disappointingly for him, he was to miss out on a turnaround that saw Celtic finally recapture some form under Jimmy McMenemy who had taken on the de facto manager role (even though on paper he was the assistant manager). Celtic went on to win the league in 1935-36 & 1937-38, and the Scottish Cup in 1937. So after some years of woe, he was unfortunate to go when he did rather than have remained for at least one more season.
Post-Celtic
Frank O’Donnell was centre-forward for Preston when they lost 3-1 to Sunderland in the 1937 FA Cup Final (his brother Hugh also played in this final).
During his time at Preston North End he scored 48 goals in 101 games. In the 1937-38 season he scored 17 goals in 30 games. He later went on to play for Blackpool and Aston Villa in a successful English club career which saw him capped six times for the Scotland national side (quite incredible for an ex-Celtic man).
On 17th April 1937 Frank O’Donnell won his first international cap for Scotland against England. Frank O’Donnell scored in the 3-1 win. He also played against Wales (October, 1937) and England (April, 1938).
His stint in England was so successful that he was ranked as one of the best buys Blackpool ever made. Frank O’Donnell only had one season at Blackpool before moving on to Aston Villa. Once again he was a great success and he scored 14 goals in 32 games.
His career was interrupted by the Second World War, and sadly his brother Dennis O’Donnell, was killed during this war.
He later managed Buxton to the third round of the FA Cup (a great achievement with such a small club), where they lost 2-0 to Doncaster in January 1952.
He passed away prematurely later that same year, on 4 Sep 1952. He took ill in the summer and died just two months later aged just 41.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1930-35 | 78 | 5 | n/a | n/a | 83 |
| Goals | 51 | 7 | n/a | n/a | 58 |
Honours with Celtic
No major medals
