Tommy Thompson (footballer, born 1928)

Thomas 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]

Tommy Thompson

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Thompson[1]
Date of birth	10 November 1928
Place of birth	Fencehouses, Houghton-le-Spring, England
Date of death	15 September 2015 (aged 86)
Position(s)	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

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

Source:[6]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Newcastle United	1947–48	Second Division	4	2	0	0	–		4	2
	1948–49	First Division	10	1	0	0	–		10	1
	1949–50	First Division	6	3	0	0	–		6	3
	Total		20	6	0	0	–		20	6
Aston Villa	1950–51	First Division	31	10	2	1	–		33	11
	1951–52	First Division	36	13	1	0	–		37	13
	1952–53	First Division	22	9	5	2	–		27	11
	1953–54	First Division	34	21	1	0	–		35	21
	1954–55	First Division	26	14	7	6	–		33	20
	Total		149	67	16	9	–		165	76
Preston North End	1955–56	First Division	42	23	1	1	–		43	24
	1956–57	First Division	38	26	5	3	–		43	29
	1957–58	First Division	41	34	1	0	–		42	34
	1958–59	First Division	34	19	5	2	–		39	21
	1959–60	First Division	21	12	6	2	–		27	14
	1960–61	First Division	13	2	2	2	4	2	19	6
	Total		189	116	20	10	4	2	213	126
Stoke City	1961–62	Second Division	37	16	3	1	1	0	41	17
	1962–63	Second Division	5	1	0	0	0	0	5	1
	Total		42	18	3	1	1	0	46	18
Barrow	1962–63	Fourth Division	16	6	0	0	0	0	16	6
	1963–64	Fourth Division	28	10	2	1	1	1	31	12
	Total		44	16	2	1	1	1	47	18
Career Total			444	222	41	21	6	3	491	246

International

Source:[7]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
England	1951	1	0
	1957	1	0
Total		2	0

References

1. 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 26 August 2007.
4. "Former top scorer Tommy Thompson dies at age of 86". Stoke Sentinel. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
5. "England Statistics". Englandstats.com. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
6. Tommy Thompson at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
7. Thompson, Tommy at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Tommy Thompson at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
• Tommy Thompson Preston profile at pneformerplayers.co.uk