| Frank Branscombe | |
| Fullname: | Francis Archer Branscombe |
| Height: | 5ft 8in |
| Position: | Outside left |
| Birth Date: | 6 May 1889 |
| Birth Place: | Dennistoun, Scotland |
| Death Date: | [1] |
| Death Place: | Maryhill, Scotland |
| Years1: | – |
| Clubs1: | Clydebank Juniors[2] |
| Years2: | 1908–1917 |
| Clubs2: | Partick Thistle |
| Caps2: | 182 |
| Goals2: | 37 |
| Years3: | 1915–1916 |
| Clubs3: | Vale of Leven (loan) |
| Years4: | 1916 |
| Clubs4: | Rangers (loan) |
| Caps4: | 7 |
| Goals4: | 5 |
| Years5: | – |
| Clubs5: | Dunkeld and Birnham |
| Totalcaps: | 189 |
| Totalgoals: | 42 |
Francis Archer Branscombe (6 May 1889 – 14 April 1942) was a Scottish footballer who played mainly as an outside left.[3] The majority of his career was spent at Partick Thistle where he played from 1908 to 1917, making 214 appearances in all competitions and scoring 50 goals;[4] he appeared in the finals of the Glasgow Cup in 1914[5] and the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup in 1916,[6] but finished on the losing side in both. He had loan spells with Vale of Leven and Rangers during World War I – in the period of around six weeks he spent at Ibrox, he managed to score in five different Scottish Football League fixtures out of the seven he played in.[7] In 1917 he left Scotland to work in the wartime munitions industry in Woolwich.[2] He later played for amateur side Dunkeld and Birnham, facing Partick Thistle in the 1923–24 Scottish Cup; the Jags won the tie 11–0.[8]
He had a trial for the Scottish League XI in 1910[3] and played in the Glasgow FA's annual challenge match against Sheffield in 1914.[9]
Branscombe was involved in a fatal accident during a match on Christmas Day 1909 when he slipped on an icy surface in a challenge for the ball with James Main of Hibernian, striking the Scotland defender in the stomach with his boot with some force. Main died from his injuries the following day.[10] [11] The incident affected the form of 20-year-old Branscombe for some time.[12]