Tommy Boyle (footballer, born 1886)

Thomas William Boyle (29 January 1886 – 5 January 1940) was an English footballer, primarily associated with Burnley.[5] He was the only player to have captained a Burnley team in a winning FA Cup Final.

This article is about the footballer born 1886. For other uses, see Tommy Boyle.

Tommy Boyle
Personal information
Full name Thomas William Boyle[1]
Date of birth (1886-01-29)29 January 1886[1]
Place of birth Hoyland, England
Date of death 5 January 1940(1940-01-05) (aged 53)[2]
Place of death Whittingham, England[3]
Height 5 ft 6 1⁄2 in (1.69 m)[4]
Position(s) Half back
Youth career
Hoyland Star
Elsecar Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1906–1912 Barnsley 160 (17)
1912–1923 Burnley 210 (36)
1923–1924 Wrexham 7 (0)
Total 377 (53)
National team
1912–1919 Football League XI 4 (1)
1913 England 1 (0)
1916 England (wartime) 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Boyle was born in the village of Hoyland in Yorkshire in 1886. He started his career at Barnsley. In 1912 Boyle crossed the Pennines to sign for Burnley for what was then a club record fee of £1,150.

He was described as a great header of the ball, an excellent passer with great leadership qualities, and as being one of the best players ever to play for Burnley. Having lifted the FA Cup in 1914, he then became the first Burnley captain to lift the League Championship Trophy as Burnley won the 1920–21 title.

By then, he was 33 and his career was coming to an end. That season was to be his last full season in the first team. He made his last appearance for Burnley during the 1921–22 season, and after a further year playing in the reserves he signed for Wrexham, where he ended his playing career.

After his playing career, he had a spell coaching in Germany.[1]

He won only one England cap against Ireland in Belfast in 1913.[2] He also played in four representative matches for the Football League.[2]

Personal life

Boyle served as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery during the First World War and was wounded in 1917.[6] After the war, Boyle worked as a landlord, but was committed to a psychiatric hospital in 1930. He died at Whittingham ten years later, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Hoyland.[1][7]

References
  1. "Tommy Boyle". www.englandfootballonline.com. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  2. "Tommy Boyle". 11v11.com. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  3. Smith, Mike (10 March 2014). The Road to Glory – Burnley's FA Cup Triumph in 1914. Grosvenor House Publishing. ISBN 9781781482605.
  4. Centaurus (22 August 1921). "First Division prospects. Burnley". Athletic News. Manchester. p. 5.
  5. Betts, Graham (2006). England: Player by player. Green Umbrella Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 1-905009-63-1.
  6. "Thomas William Boyle | Service Record". Football & the First World War. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  7. Thomas William Boyle on Lives of the First World War
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