Frank Mitchell

Goalkeeper Frank Mitchell was known in Scotland as “The Penalty King” for his prowess at saving spot-kicks. Having found his opportunities at Everton restricted by Tom Fern’s form, he crossed Stanley Park to join Liverpool for £1,250 on 4 February 1921. Five days later, he made a successful debut at Anfield, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over Manchester United before 35,000 spectators. Mitchell began a run of 15 consecutive First Division appearances that would account for most of his Liverpool career. His introduction to the side brought four clean sheets in nine unbeaten appearances, with Liverpool conceding only five goals during that sequence.

MItchell's unbeaten start ended with a 1–0 defeat at Tottenham on Easter Monday, 28 March, but he responded with clean sheets against Blackburn Rovers and Derby County in his next two outings. His performances earned praise from the Derby Daily Telegraph, which described him as “quite a dapper figure... this canny Scot from Elgin. The Anfield club think the world of him, and rightly so, for he has a glorious knack of anticipation, and gets to shots in wonderful style.” Across his 15 appearances that spring, Mitchell conceded just 11 goals and kept six clean sheets, with Liverpool recording six victories, six draws and three defeats. Two of those defeats came against Bolton Wanderers in the final two matches of his run.

Despite that respectable record, Mitchell could not secure the position ahead of Elisha Scott. He made only three appearances during Liverpool’s championship-winning 1921/22 campaign, but remained unbeaten in all of them. He kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory at Tottenham on 22 October, then played in successive matches against Aston Villa in December: a 1–1 draw at Villa Park and a 2–0 victory at Anfield. The latter, on 10 December 1921, proved his final first-team appearance, Mitchell continued to play for the reserves but suffered a broken wrist against Port Vale on 20 January 1923. That summer, he joined his third Merseyside club, Tranmere Rovers.