, died 23 October 1916 in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

, France) was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who was Clapton Orient

Leyton Orient F.C.

Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

's top scorer for four consecutive seasons between 1911–1915.

Having moved from Scotland to Blyth

Blyth, Northumberland

Blyth is a town and civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth and is approximately 21 kilometres  northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne...

 as a boy, McFadden started his career in the Northern League

Northern League (football)

The Northern League is a football league in North East England for semi-professional and amateur teams. Having been founded in 1889, it is the oldest surviving football league in the world after the Football League....

 with Blyth

Blyth Spartans A.F.C.

Blyth Spartans A.F.C. are a professional football club who play in the Conference North, and are based in the town of Blyth, Northumberland, England. They are often the most Northerly team in whichever league or cup they are playing in. They are managed by former Spartans player Steve Cuggy.They...

 in November 1910, before moving to Wallsend Park Villa for a fee of £2. In May 1911, he joined Clapton Orient, scoring on his debut against Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 on September 2.

McFadden broke Orient's goalscoring record in his first season with the club, scoring 19 goals, only to break the record again in what was to be his final season, 1914–1915, with 21 goals. In the intervening two seasons, he was still Orient's top scorer. He also represented a Southern XI in a match against England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 in November 1914, scoring the only goal of the game, after which a Daily Express

Daily Express

The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...

 reporter declared that McFadden was the "outstanding player on the field".

McFadden attracted press attention off the pitch in 1912 when he rescued an 11-year old boy from the River Lea, for which he received a medal from the Mayor of Hackney

Politics of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a Labour Party governed inner London borough. The fifty-seven seats representing the nineteen wards of the Borough are divided between the Labour Party with fifty; the Conservative Party with four, and Liberal Democrats three....

. Prior to joining Clapton Orient McFadden had also risked his own life when rescuing a man from a burning building.

At the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 professional football was suspended, and McFadden joined the 17th Battalion Middlesex Regiment

Middlesex Regiment

The Middlesex Regiment was a regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms when the 57th and 77th Regiments of Foot were amalgamated with the county's militia and rifle volunteer units.On 31 December 1966 The Middlesex Regiment was amalgamated with three...

, the "Footballers' Battalion", along with 40 other Orient players and staff. During the Battle of the Somme, he witnessed the death of his childhood friend and Orient teammate William Jonas

William Jonas

William "Billy" Jonas was an English footballer.Starting his career with Jarrow Croft, Jonas scored twice in a Gateshead Charity Cup Final and turned down an offer from Barnsley before moving to Havanna Rovers in 1910...

 in July 1916, and was injured himself a few weeks later. On his recovery he returned to the front and earned the Military Medal

Military Medal

The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....

, but on 22 October 1916 received serious injuries from which he died the following day. His death was acknowledged by other football clubs, including Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in their official programme, and the Manchester Football Chronicle stated, "In civil life he was a hero, and he proved himself a hero on the battlefield." McFadden is buried at a military cemetery in Couin

Couin

Couin is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A small farming village located 16 miles southwest of Arras at the junction of the D25 and D2 roads, by the banks of the Authie river....

.