Tommy Thompson (footballer, born 1928)

Tommy Thompson
Personal information
Full name Thomas Thompson[1]
Date of birth (1928-11-10)10 November 1928
Place of birth Fencehouses, Houghton-le-Spring, England
Date of death 15 September 2015(2015-09-15) (aged 86)
Playing position Inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1950 Newcastle United 20 (6)
1950–1955 Aston Villa 149 (67)
1955–1961 Preston North End 188 (117)
1961–1963 Stoke City 42 (18)
1963–1964 Barrow 44 (16)
Total 443 (224)
National team
1951–1957 England 2 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Thomas "Tommy" Thompson (10 November 1928 – 15 September 2015) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Barrow, Newcastle United, Preston North End and Stoke City as well as the England national team.[1]

Career

Thompson was born in Fencehouses, Houghton-le-Spring in 1928[1] and began his career with Newcastle United, making 20 appearances for the club scoring six goals.[2] When manager George Martin left St James' Park in 1950 he took Thompson with him for the price of £12,500. He made his debut against Blackpool in September of that year. Thompson went on to make 165 first team games for Villa scoring 76 goals including three hat-tricks.[3]

Thompson was sold to Preston North End in August 1955 for £27,000. At Deepdale, Thompson scored within the first two minutes on his debut during a 4–0 win against Everton. It set the tone for his six season spell with the "Lillywhites" as Thompson began a very prolific goalscorer linking up well with Tom Finney. He scored 24 in 1955–56, 29 in 1956–57, and career best of 34 in 1957–58. He ended his Preston career with 126 goals in 209 matches.

He joined Stoke City in August 1961 and scored on his debut against Rotherham United.[1] Despite being 34 years old Thompson retained his trademark eye of goal and top scored for the "Potters" in 1961–62 with 17 goals.[1] He left his place in the side in 1961–62 and he joined Fourth Division Barrow where he scored 18 goals in 47 matches before retiring.[1] He died at the age of 86 on 15 September 2015.[4]

International career

He acquired his first cap against Wales during the 1951–52 season. He won his second cap in April 1957.[5]

Career statistics

Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Newcastle United 1947–48 Second Division 4200–42
1948–49 First Division 10100–101
1949–50 First Division 6300–63
Total 20600–206
Aston Villa 1950–51 First Division 311021–3311
1951–52 First Division 361310–3713
1952–53 First Division 22952–2711
1953–54 First Division 342110–3521
1954–55 First Division 261476–3320
Total 14967169–16576
Preston North End 1955–56 First Division 422311–4324
1956–57 First Division 382653–4329
1957–58 First Division 413410–4234
1958–59 First Division 341952–3921
1959–60 First Division 211262–2714
1960–61 First Division 1322242196
Total 189116201042213126
Stoke City 1961–62 Second Division 371631104117
1962–63 Second Division 51000051
Total 421831104618
Barrow 1962–63 Fourth Division 1660000166
1963–64 Fourth Division 281021113112
Total 441621114718
Career Total 444222412163491246

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ↑ Hayes, Dean. The Villa Park Encyclopedia: A-Z of Aston Villa. Mainstream Publishing (2 Oct 1997). p. 161. ISBN 978-1-85158-959-3.
  3. ↑ "Tommy Thompson AVFC stats". Jörn Mårtensson. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  4. ↑ "Former top scorer Tommy Thompson dies at age of 86". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "England Statistics". Englandstats.com. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
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