pepper_francis
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| Name: Francis "Frank" Pepper |
Nationality: England |
| Position: centre-half |
Signing Information: Transferred from: Sheffield United, 11/1898, £ |
| Birthdate: 00-00-0000 |
Years at Club: 1898-1899 |
| Age: () |
Debut: 10/12/1898 v Blackpool (Bank Street) 3-1 (League Division Two) |
| Birthplace: Wortley, Leeds, England |
Previous clubs: Sheffield United |
| Height: 5' 10" (1.78m) |
Farewell to Manchester United: Transferred to Barnsley, 02/1899, £ |
| Weight: 11st 8lbs (73.48kg) |
Passed Away: 04/1914 |
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By impressing at local places like Kilnhurst and Greasbrough, Frank Pepper earned a dream move into professional football in the summer of 1898, and with champions Sheffield United, no less. However, this proved a big step up for the centre-half and he was restricted to reserve team outings until he obviously had had enough by November.
This precipitated a moved to Newton Heath where Frank proved a temporary solution for the vacancy created by James McNaught's departure. At 5'10" in height and weighing 11st 10lbs, he was an imposing centre-half in a defensive sense but he lacked creativity offensively. That said, he did earn the foul that led to James Cunningham scoring on Pepper's debut against Blackpool on December 10th, 1898. And he also enjoyed a special moment a fortnight later when the Heathens thrashed Darwen 9-0 to equal their record league winning margin that still stands to this day. It all started with Pepper whose shot glanced off the defender's head to open the floodgates, though Darwen fielding only nine men also helped!
Frank lost his place when Billy Griffiths arrived at Bank Street, so he moved to Barnsley in 1899-00 and was a regular for two years. Again he lost his spot, prompting a transfer to Doncaster Rovers in January 1902. However, he only turned out once for them, and his career seemed to be tailing off when he moved to lowly South Kirby.
Fortunately, Pepper bounced back to join Rotherham Town in July 1903 where he enjoyed a few more seasons and won several Rotherham Charity Cup medals. Parallel to his football career was a lengthy spell in cricket, for he kept wicket for Greasborough from 1895 to 1907, at which point he even joined their football team for a season. Sadly, though, he passed away relatively young, aged just 38 in mid-April 1914. No picture available. Biography kindly provided by Charbel Boujaoude. |
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League Cup |
FA Cup |
Charity Shield |
European Cup |
Europa League |
Super Cup |
Cup Winners Cup |
Inter-Continental Cup |
World Clubs Cup |
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Season
Goals |
Season
Apps |
| 1 |
1898-1899 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
| TOTALS |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
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