Frank O'Rourke

A robust Scottish centre-forward. Frank had already won an international cap when he appeared at Valley Parade in April 1907 playing in a friendly for Airdrie. He made such an impression that City officials travelled over to Airdrie's Leeds hotel, roused Frank from his bed at 3am, and signed him there and then!

He was an immediate success - his shoot on sight approach made him a favourite of the Valley Parade crowd. Frank became City's record scorer with 93 goals - a record only broken by Bobby Campbell in 1984. In the FA Cup Final replay of 1911 the press claimed that Frank touched Jimmy Speirs' header before it entered the net. However, he never claimed the goal and told his friends and family that he didn't make any contact.

At the outbreak of the First World War Frank drove a taxi in Bradford before joining the Royal Flying Corp.

He retired in June 1926 and returned to Scotland and his native Bargeddie where he died on Christmas Eve 1954 aged 77.

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