Tom Lyon (footballer)

Thomas King Lyon (17 March 1915 – 26 November 1998) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Scottish League for Albion Rovers and Airdrieonians and in the English Football League for Blackpool, Chesterfield and New Brighton. An inside forward, he was on the books of Motherwell without playing for their first team, played junior football for Clydebank Juniors and Yoker Athletic, and played non-league football in England for Prescot Cables.[1][3][4]

Tom Lyon
Personal information
Full name Thomas King Lyon[1]
Date of birth (1915-03-17)17 March 1915
Place of birth Clydebank, Scotland
Date of death 26 November 1998(1998-11-26) (aged 83)
Place of death Old Kilpatrick, Scotland
Height 5 ft 7 1⁄2 in (1.71 m)[2]
Position(s) inside forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1933 Clydebank Juniors
1933–1934 Motherwell 0 (0)
1934 Yoker Athletic
1934–1937 Albion Rovers 75 (29)
1936 → Airdrieonians (loan) 10 (6)
1937–1938 Blackpool 6 (0)
1938–1948 Chesterfield 41 (22)
1948–1949 New Brighton 36 (7)
1949–19?? Prescot Cables
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Lyon was born in 1915 in Clydebank, which was then in Dunbartonshire.[1] He played football for his school, Clydebank High School, and appeared for Clydebank Juniors in 1933 while still a schoolboy.[2] He attracted interest from senior clubs: after trials with Rangers and Partick Thistle,[5] he signed for Division One club Motherwell.[2] He played for Motherwell's "A" team in the Scottish Alliance,[6] but not for the first team. At the end of the 1933–34 season, he successfully applied for reinstatement as a junior,[7] and signed for Yoker Athletic.[8]

Lyon's stay in the junior ranks was brief: he signed for Division One Albion Rovers in late September 1934, and went straight into the eleven to face Celtic.[9] He scored 25 goals in 50 league matches between then and February 1936,[4] when Rovers loaned him to Airdrieonians to help that club's struggle against relegation from Division One.[10] He scored six goals from ten matches,[4] and media speculation was that perhaps Rovers should have kept him as they slid lower in the table.[11] The following season, Rovers themselves were on the point of relegation when they sold Lyon to Blackpool for £1200; the player did not want to leave, but agreed to do so when the club's financial problems were explained to him.[12]

He appeared little for Blackpool, and moved on to Chesterfield in 1938;[3] he was that club's top scorer in the 1938–39 season.[13] When competitive football was abandoned on the outbreak of war, Lyon returned to Scotland.[14] He made a few appearances for Celtic[15] (alongside his brother Willie who was a regular in the side)[16] in the Scottish regional league before suffering a groin injury and returning to Chesterfield.[17] He served in the Army during the war,[18] and when the Football League resumed, remained with the club for two seasons before joining New Brighton for one season and then moving into non-league football with Prescot Cables.[3]

Lyon died in Old Kilpatrick, West Dunbartonshire, in 1998 at the age of 83.[3]

References
  1. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. "Fir Park newcomer". Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 5 June 1933. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Tom Lyon". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  4. "Tom Lyon". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  5. "Sports and pastimes. Football". Kirkintilloch Herald. 3 May 1934. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Football". Kirkintilloch Herald. 24 May 1934. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Players ordered off. Hearts "A", 1; Motherwell "A", 2". Motherwell Times. 20 October 1933. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Senior to junior. Applications for reinstatement". Bellshill Speaker. 20 July 1934. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Sports and pastimes. Football". Kirkintilloch Herald. 15 August 1934. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Rovers' recruit". Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 27 September 1934. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Changed their tune". Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 7 March 1936. p. 9 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Tomorrow's games". Motherwell Times. 7 March 1936. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "A £1000 transfer—or the club was doomed". Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 30 December 1947. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. Carrington, S. (11 August 1939). "Fresh page in Saltergate history". Telegraph & Independent. Sheffield. p. 10 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "Chesterfield's game with Sheffield U.". The Star. Sheffield. 13 September 1939. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. "Celtic player Thomas Lyon profile". Fitbastats. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  16. "Celtic player William Lyon profile". Fitbastats. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  17. Waverley (30 October 1939). "Celtic's fault exposed". Daily Record. Glasgow. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Waverley's Spotlight". Daily Record. Glasgow. 19 December 1939. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "Lyon, Thomas". The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  18. 'Casual' (27 August 1943). "Chesterfield F.C. looking forward to a good season". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
    "English v. Scottish and Welsh XI". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. 8 October 1943. p. 7 – via British Newspaper Archive.
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