Everyone at AFC was saddened to learn of the passing of former player Gordon Marshall.

Goalkeeper Gordon Marshall Senior played for Aberdeen in the early 1970s. His son, also called Gordon, was a very good goalkeeper in his own right, and worked as the Dons goalkeeping coach as part of Derek McInnes’ management team. Our thoughts are very much with Gordon, and the family at this sad time.

Career

Gordon Marshall began his professional career with Heart of Midlothian and made his debut in 1956 at the age of 17. During his spell at Tynecastle, Marshall helped Hearts enjoy their most successful period, winning four major trophies in his seven years in Edinburgh. In total, he made 267 competitive appearances between 1956 and 1963 for the Gorgie side, during which time they won two League titles and three League Cups. Surrey born Marshall was also capped for England U-23s against Scotland in 1960.

In 1963, he was transferred to Newcastle United in an £18,000 deal. Newcastle were struggling in the Second Division and he was soon to become a regular in the Magpies’ side and was part of the team that won promotion to the top flight in 1965. Three years later, Marshall joined Nottingham Forest in a £17,500 transfer, but his stay was brief with only seven appearances. In 1969, he returned to Scotland and signed for Hibernian, before joining Celtic as a back up to Evan Williams. Although he never played in the league for Celtic, he did appear in a European Cup tie against Copenhagen.

It was a goalkeeping crisis at Pittodrie that brought Gordon Marshall to Pittodrie at the end of January 1972. Bobby Clark, the regular Aberdeen keeper, injured his knee and with Andy Geoghegan still recovering from a broken finger, manager Jim Bonthrone turned to the experienced 32-year-old Marshall to help the Dons in their bid for the league title Bonthrone met Marshall in Edinburgh on 28 January to complete the deal for a nominal fee. The goalkeeping situation at Pittodrie was so bad that no less than 13 different ‘trialists’ had to play for the Dons reserves during the crisis.

Marshall made his Aberdeen debut against Kilmarnock at Pittodrie on 29 January 1972 in a 4-2 win for the Dons as they continued to chase Celtic at the summit.

With a Scottish Cup tie at Dundee United coming up, there was no rush to get Clark back with Marshall providing experienced cover. Within a couple of weeks, both Clark and Geoghegan recovered from their respective injuries, but Bonthrone declared that Marshall would be given some game time before the end of the campaign. Gordon Marshall was released by Aberdeen at the end of the season after making nine appearances for the Dons.

On 23 October 1978, the Dons travelled down to face Arbroath in what was a joint Testimonial match for Gordon Marshall and Cammy Murray. The Aberdeen support boosted the crowd to more than 1,200 and watched an entertaining 2-2 draw. Aberdeen came back from two goals down, with guest players Dave Smith and Willie Pettigrew scoring. The Dons fielded a strong starting eleven against Marshall’s select side that included Pat Stanton, Tom McLean and Jimmy Bone.

In the Red Matchday Magazine a few years back, Gordon Jnr spoke about his dad’s career. 

As we have mentioned in this publication in the past, Aberdeen FC goalkeeping coach Gordon Marshall’s dad, Gordon senior, played for Aberdeen in the early 1970s but his fellow goalkeeper is mainly remembered for his time at Heart of Midlothian and recently, he was inducted into the Edinburgh’s side Hall of Fame.

Gordon signed for Hearts in July 1956 and made his competitive debut, aged 17, in November 1956 in the 3-2 League victory over Kilmarnock at Tynecastle. He went on to play a significant part in one of the most successful eras in the Maroons’ history. Hearts won the Scottish League Championship in both 1957/58 and 1959/60. In that first title success, the team conceded only 29 goals.

Gordon also played his part in three Scottish League Cup final wins. The keeper also appeared in all of Hearts’ early European adventures in both the Champions Cup and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. He recorded a very impressive 84 shut-outs whilst playing for Hearts.

He moved to Newcastle United in 1963 for £17,500 and helped them rebuild their side, culminating in promotion as Division Two champions in 1964/65. After several seasons of consolidation in the top flight, Newcastle sold Marshall to Nottingham Forest before he returned to Scotland and had spells at Hibs and then Celtic, where he played in the European Cup.

Marshall then signed for Aberdeen as cover for Bobby Clark in early 1972. He played nine games for the Dons as they achieved a second place league finish in 1971/72, but left for newly promoted Arbroath in the following summer. He spent six full years playing with the Red Lichties.

At international level, he was just edged out of the England 1966 World Cup squad by Banks, Springett and Bonetti although he did represent the English at U23 level.

We spoke to our Gordon about his dad’s career and the influence he had on him picking up the gloves.

“My dad was certainly a top keeper who had a great career. He was only 17 when he made his debut for Hearts. Playing first team football at 17 years of age in those days was not very common at all. He was having to play in front for 50,000 people in the old stadium back then.

“He should be very proud of his history at Hearts. It was incredible. He was involved in the record breaking team that won the league and he conceded very few goals in an era where far more goals were scored in football in general.

“We were at a dinner last year when he got inducted into the Hearts Hall of Fame. The players that he talks about, everyone just sits up and pays attention. He stood up on the stage, read out the team that played in front of him and he got a standing ovation for it.

“It was a golden era of Scottish football. A number of different sides won the league and the crowds were massive.

“He moved to England and was successful at Newcastle and helped them get promotion from the Second Division. There were then a few changes and he lost his place to Willie McFaul who was the keeper when Newcastle won the Fairs Cup and an Irish international. Although my dad was part of that squad, he was a bit restless because he wanted to get back playing again.

“The biggest thing for me was the length of time he played, 22 years from 1956 to 1978. He played on till he was 38. In fact, I only missed him by a couple of years! He retired in 1978 and I become a pro in 1980. My first senior game was against Dundee United and in goal for them that day was Peter Bonetti. My dad had played against Peter down south when he was in his prime.

“In 1966, my dad was in a group of goalkeepers who were looked at for the England World Cup squad. He was one of the half dozen who had been identified for the World Cup. Bonetti was a younger one so he was picked and obviously Gordon Banks was the main man.

“So my first senior game, at 16 years of age, I am playing against a guy who is 40 and my dad was watching on from the stand! That was a bit surreal you could say, but also quite neat.

“I was fortunate enough to have seen dad play. I was still young when he was at Newcastle so I can’t remember too much about the games but I remember watching quite a lot of his games at Arbroath. He played in a good team. I was lucky enough to have seen him play live which was great. I would love to have seen more of his time at Hearts but sadly there is now not a lot of footage in existence.

“At international level, he was due to play in a trial game for Scotland but was ill and could not play and then he ended up playing for England U23s and that meant he was classed as English and could not flip over. Who knows what would have happened if he had played in that trial, but it is not something that bothers him.

“It goes without saying that he was a massive influence on my career. I remember him being on the sidelines when I was playing primary school games. This was when you played for your school in the morning and then went and played for your boys’ club in the afternoon. My dad always watched all my games. He knew more that most about the position. At that age, he would help me with my positioning and the technical sides of things. He would tell me little things without bogging me down with it.

“And then as I got older, he would talk about what I could do better and my positioning and would say if there were shots I should be saving. We would talk about what worked and what did not work. It is always great talking to a fellow goalkeeper. Like with me and Joe, you can talk on a level where he knows what your talking about.

“I always asked him why he never went into coaching as he knew as much about goalkeeping as anyone. He did manage Junior side Newton Grange Star but when my dad finished playing, goalkeeping coaching was not taken seriously.

“I spoke to my dad about the time he played for the Dons. He said he really enjoyed his spell here. I think it was around the time Bobby Clark was here. He also really enjoyed the city so he was very excited about me getting the chance to work at Aberdeen.