Frank Penn

Frank Penn was an outside left, who played for Fulham from 1915 until 1934 as a one-club man. He remained at the club as a trainer and physiotherapist until his retirement in 1965. With a total of 479 first team appearances, he is a well regarded legend of the football club who was part of the club for 50 years.

Before Fulham
Frank was born in Edmonton, Middlesex. Upon leaving school he qualified as a mechanical engineer, and served with the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War.

Fulham (1915-1965)
Frank joined the club as a 19 year-old in 1915 during the First World War. He made his unofficial first team debut in a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage against Clapton Orient, in what was a wartime match. After initially appearing as an inside-left towards the latter portion of 1916-17, he made the outside left position his own as he played out the majority of wartime matches for the following two seasons. In April 1919, he played in the London Combination Victory Cup Final, a 3-0 loss against Chelsea.

Owing to his impressive performances during the war, he was given a trial by England in April 1919, and appeared for the South versus the North.

He had to wait until 30 August 1919 to make his official debut for the club, as League football was resumed. Fulham played South Shields at home, and ran out 1-0 winners. He made 23 appearances in his first full season, 1919-20, though was kept out of the team on occasion by Willie Walker. His first goal came in a London Challenge Cup Replayed tie away to Arsenal, as he scored the final goal during a 3-1 win.

Frank would go on to be the first choice on the left wing for over ten seasons, eventually being forced out of the first team by Jack Finch during the 1930-31 season. He would still go on to make a handful of appearances in 1931-32, and made his final bow as a player in a 5-1 loss away to West Ham United on Easter Monday 1934. He held the appearance record at the club until he was overtaken by Eddie Lowe in the 1960s.

Although he didn't get a chance to play internationally, Frank was picked to represent the FA against the Army in October 1926.

After retiring as a player at the end of the 1933-34 season, he became assistant trainer to Bill Voisey and took over from him as chief trainer five years later at the start of 1939-40. He also qualified as a physiotherapist and would juggle between both roles during his time at the club as backroom staff, and stayed on until his retirement in 1965.

After Fulham
Frank passed away aged 70, in the Royal Free Hospital at St Pancras on 19 December 1966, just over a year after his retirement from the game.

Fulham Matches
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