Irvine Thornley

Irvine Thornley (11 October 1883 – 24 April 1955) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. After playing for local amateur clubs, he made his professional debut for Glossop in 1901. He moved to Manchester City in 1904, becoming a prolific goalscorer for the club and winning a single cap for England in 1907.

Irvine Thornley
Personal information
Full name Irvine Thornley[1]
Date of birth (1883-10-11)11 October 1883[2]
Place of birth Whitfield, England
Date of death 24 April 1955(1955-04-24) (aged 71)[3]
Place of death South Shields, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Glossop Villa
Glossop St James
1901–1904 Glossop 79 (42)
1904–1912 Manchester City 195 (92)
1912–1915 South Shields Adelaide
1917–1918 Clydebank 3 (1)
1919–1920 Hamilton Academical 27 (16)
Houghton
National team
1907 England 1 (0)
Football League XI 2
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Early life

Thornley was born in Whitfield, Derbyshire, the second of four children to Thomas Thornley and Henrietta Thornley (née Cooper). His father worked as a butcher and his mother was a cotton weaver. His brother John would also become a footballer.[4][5] As a teenager, he worked as a tripe dresser.[3]

Career

Thornley began his football career playing for local amateur clubs Glossop Villa and Glossop St. James before joining Glossop in 1901.[3] In April 1904, he joined First Division side Manchester City along with Frank Norgrove.[6] Soon after the Football Association carried out an investigation into the transfer practices of the club and manager Tom Maley regarding making additional payments to players to avoid the maximum wage at the time.

The investigation led to Maley receiving a life ban from the game and seventeen players were either fined or suspended.[7] With a new squad hastily assembled, City met Arsenal soon after in a match played during a heatwave. With temperatures soaring, Thornley collapsed thirty minutes into the match and was described as "prostrate and very ill". City went on to lose four other players during the match due to the extreme heat, finishing the match with only six players.[8]

In his second season at the club, he scored 21 league goals in the First Division to finish as the club's top goalscorer,[7] a feat which he achieved in three consecutive seasons afterwards. He received his first call-up for the England team in 1907, being named as a reserve player for a match against Ireland on 16 February 1907 before making his debut against Wales the following month.

He also made two appearances for the Football League representative side. City were relegated in 1909 but won promotion from the Second Division at the first attempt by finishing the 1909–10 season as champions.[3]

In 1912, he was awarded a benefit match by the club that raised £1,036, a record at the time for a player benefit match, before joining South Shields.[3][7] He spent three seasons with South Shields playing in the North Eastern League, scoring 154 goals in 130 matches for the club including 70 in one season.[7][9]

Following the outbreak of World War I, Thornley joined the Royal Field Artillery at the age of 32 and served as a gunner until he was transferred to the army reserve in April 1917.[3][10] He was discharged from the army in December 1918.[10]

His brother John, who played for Manchester United as an amateur, was killed during the war after succumbing to wounds he suffered during the Battle of St. Quentin during Operation Michael.[11] When competitive football resumed after the war, Thornley played for Hamilton Academical and Houghton before retiring.[3][12][13]

Honours

Manchester City

Hamilton Academical

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (16 October 2012). Football League Players' Records 1888–1939 (3rd Revised ed.). Tony Brown. p. 287. ISBN 9781905891610.
  2. Irvine Thornley
  3. "Irvine Thornley". England Football Online. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  4. "John Thornley | Service Record". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  5. Joyce 2012, p. 288.
  6. "Phases of Football:The Transfer System". Aberdeen People's Journal. 21 September 1907. Retrieved 24 April 2018 – via Play Up Liverpool.
  7. Tony Matthews (2013). Manchester City Player by Player. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1445617251.
  8. Anton Rippon (5 August 2017). "Ex-Derby County manager gets hot under the collar as his side swelter in heat". The Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  9. "From humble beginnings to the Football League". Shields Gazette. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  10. "Irvine Thornley | Service Record". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  11. Paul Davies (11 November 2017). "Remembrance:The Players We Lost in War". Manchester United F.C. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  12. Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
  13. "1919–20". docs.google.com. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
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