AN OFFICER AND A FOOTBALLER Donald Bell was a professional with Bradford Park Avenue before serving with the 9th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment
GETTY X2, IMAGES OF DONALD BELL COURTESY OF THE GREEN HOWARDS MUSEUM, RICHMOND, NORTH YORKSHIRE
THE FINAL WHISTLE
Donald Bell was looking forward to the start of the new football season in the summer of 1914. At 23, he was in the prime of his life, a strapping six-foot sportsman, who could run the 100 yards in under 11 seconds and had represented his county at rugby union. But football was Bell’s obsession. In 1912, he supplemented the income from his teaching job by turning professional with Bradford Park Avenue, helping them win promotion to the First Division, the top flight of English football.