Archie Goodall

Archibald Lee "Archie" Goodall (3 Jan 1865 – 20 November 1929) was an Irish footballer who made 429 appearances in the Football League for Preston North End, Aston Villa, Derby County, Glossop and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He won 10 caps at full international level for Ireland. Goodall could play in the centre half and forward positions.^[1]

Goodall made 423 appearances and scored 52 goals for Derby County. He also served as club captain and established a club record for consecutive league appearances. Goodall was employed regularly as a centre half and made great use of the shoulder charge. His stamina and shear physical presence also made him very effective in this position.

During his career Goodall also set three age records. He was the oldest player to score an international goal during the 19th century, the oldest player to score for Ireland and is the oldest player ever to play for Wolves. Goodall also proved to be a controversial character. In 1894 he refused to play an extra half-hour of the United Counties League Cup final against West Bromwich Albion because he said his contract ended after 90 minutes and in 1898 he tried to off-load his extra FA Cup final tickets to a ticket tout.

Goodall's older brother, John Goodall, was also a notable footballer and played for Preston North End, Derby County and England. Despite having Scottish parents and being raised in Kilmarnock, the Goodall brothers were ineligible to play for Scotland because of their birthplaces. As a result, they played for their countries of birth and thus became the first brothers in world football to play for different national teams.

Early years

Goodall's parents were Richard Goodall and Mary Lee who were married on 31 Dec 1860 in Tarbolton, Ayr, Scotland [2]

Goodall's father was a soldier in the British Army and was stationed in London where John Goodall was born in 1863. Within the following year he was posted to Belfast where Archie was born in 1865 [3]. The family eventually settled in Kilmarnock, where the brothers spent the majority of their childhoods. As a youth, Archie played for several clubs in the Merseyside area, including Everton. In 1887 he joined his brother at Preston North End, and in the inaugural English League season 1888–89 they played a couple of games together in the forward line. Archie then joined Aston Villa for £100 in October 1888. During his brief spell at Villa he proved an effective inside-right, scoring 7 goals in 14 league appearances.

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Derby County

In May 1889 Goodall joined Derby County where he was reunited with his brother John. Together with Steve Bloomer, the Goodall brothers formed the backbone of a County side that regularly challenged for top honours over the following decade. Primarily used as a centre-half at County, Goodall made 380 English League appearances for the club, scored 48 league goals and helped them finish runners-up in 1896. Between October 1892 and October 1897 he also made a club record 151 consecutive league appearances.

Goodall also played a further 42 games and scored 4 goals in the FA Cup, helping County reach three FA Cup Finals in 1898, 1899 and 1903. In 1898 before the final against Nottingham Forest he was caught trying to off-load his Cup final tickets to a ticket tout. Despite being strong favourites County eventually lost 3–1. He missed the 1899 final due to injury and in 1903 they lost 6–0 to Bury.

Irish International

Goodall had to wait for the Irish FA to change its rules governing the selection of non-resident players before he made his international debut for Ireland on 4 March 1899 as they beat Wales 1–0 in Belfast. He thus became one of the first four Irish players based in England to be selected to represent Ireland. Three weeks later, on 25 March, aged 34 years and 279 days, Goodall became the oldest player to score in international football during the 19th century when he scored Ireland's goal in a 9–1 defeat to Scotland in Glasgow.

Goodall remained a regular at centre-half for Ireland until he was almost 40. On 28 March 1903 he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 win against Wales, helping Ireland clinch a share in the 1903 British Home Championship. The goal also saw Goodall, aged of 38 years and 283 days, become the oldest goalscorer in Ireland's history. He made his final appearance for Ireland as a centre-forward in a 1–0 win against Wales on 21 March 1904. His team mates while playing for Ireland included Jack Kirwan, Billy Scott, Billy McCracken and Robert Milne,

Later years

After leaving Derby County in May 1903 Goodall briefly joined Plymouth Argyle before becoming player-manager at Glossop North End in January 1904. Among his team mates at Glossop was the former England international Fred Spiksley. Goodall made his last two appearances for Ireland while at Glossop. In October 1905 he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was 41 years and 153 days old when he made his final league appearance for Wolves on 2 December 1905 against Everton, making him the oldest player ever to play for that club. After retiring as a player, Goodall travelled Europe and the United States as part of a strongman act before settling in London, where he lived out his remaining years.^[4]

Honours

Derby County

• FA Cup:
  • Runner-up 1898, 1903
• English League
  • Runner-up 1895–96

Ireland

• British Home Championship:
  • Shared title 1903

References

Sources

• Who's Who of Aston Villa (2004): Tony Matthews

Birth

External links

• Northern Ireland Footballing Greats
• Derby County Fansite at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 September 2007)
• Oldest Ireland goalscorer
• Oldest International Goalscorer in the 1800s