Tommy Lawton

Lawton played his first game for Burnley Reserves against Manchester City Reserves in September 1935, and though he struggled in this game he went on to become a regular Reserve team player by the age of 16.[14] After a poor run of form from Cecil Smith, Lawton was selected ahead of Smith for the Second Division game against Doncaster Rovers at Turf Moor on 28 March 1936; aged 16 years and 174 days, this made him the youngest centre-forward ever to play in the Football League.[15] Rovers centre-half Syd Bycroft, also making his league debut, marked Lawton out of the game, which ended in a 1–1 draw.[16] Burnley had played poorly, though Lawton was praised for his "keen and fearless" performance by the Express & News newspaper.[16] He retained his place for the following game, and scored two goals in a 3–1 victory over Swansea Town at Vetch Field.[17] He picked up a groin strain in his third appearance which caused him to miss two fixtures, before he returned to the first team for the final four games of the 1935–36 season; he claimed three more goals to take his season tally to five goals from seven games.[18]

Lawton continued to train his heading skills intensely in the summer of 1936, and also played cricket for Burnley Cricket Club as a batsman in the Lancashire League.[19] He scored a six against both Learie Constantine and Amar Singh.[20] He scored 369 runs in 15 completed innings for an average of 24.06.[21]

He turned professional at Burnley at the age of 17 on wages of £7 a week.[22] His grandfather attempted to negotiate a £500 signing-on fee on his behalf but was rebuffed after the club alerted Charles Sutcliffe, Secretary of the Football League, who informed them that any attempt to circumvent the league's maximum wage was illegal.[23] Lawton scored in his first appearance since signing the contract after just 30 seconds, before going on to record a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, scoring a goal with either foot and one with his head.[24]

In January 1937, First Division club Everton paid Burnley £6,500 to secure Lawton's services, and also gave his grandfather a job as deputy groundsman at Goodison Park; the fee was a record for a player under 21.[25] The move to Everton made him a teammate of Dixie Dean, his boyhood idol, who he was expected to gradually replace as first choice centre-forward.[26][27] He later recalled that on his way to Goodison Park on his first day as an Everton player he was told by a tram conductor that "You're that young Lawton, aren't you? You'll never be as good as Dixie."[28] Dean was finally rested on 13 February, which allowed Lawton to make his first team debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux; the match ended in a 6–2 defeat, though Lawton scored a penalty.[29] He spent the rest of the season at inside-left, with Dean at centre-forward, and ended the 1936–37 campaign with four goals in 11 games.[30] He started the 1937–38 season in the Reserves, but was installed as first choice centre-forward in September after Dean was dropped for punching club secretary Theo Kelly.[31] On 2 October, Lawton scored the winning penalty in a 2–1 victory over Merseyside derby rivals Liverpool at Anfield.[32] He ended the campaign with 28 goals in 39 appearances to become the division's top-scorer.[33]

Everton had a young but highly effective team for the 1938–39 campaign, and Lawton was praised for the way he led the attack, with the Evening Standard's Roland Allen describing Lawton as a "clever footballer, bringing his wing men into the game with shrewd flicks and widely flung and accurate passes" after Everton recorded a 2–1 victory over Arsenal at Highbury.[34] The game against Arsenal was part of a run of six wins in the first six games of the campaign, during which time Lawton scored eight goals.[35] Everton lost their lead at the top of the table to Derby County over Christmas, but returned to form and to first position by Easter.[36] They faced a difficult final run of games, but beat Chelsea and recorded two victories over Sunderland to secure the club's fifth league title, finishing four points ahead of second-place Wolverhampton Wanderers.[37] Lawton scored 35 goals in 38 league games to finish as the division's top-scorer for the second successive season.[27][38] However, in the summer he wrote to Leicester City to request that the club buy him from Everton; it was reported that he reached out to Leicester as they were managed by Tom Bromilow, his former Burnley manager.[39] Everton were fifth in the league and Lawton was the division's top-scorer with four goals when league football was suspended three games into the 1939–40 season due to the outbreak of World War II.[40] Lawton later remarked that "I'm convinced that if it hadn't been for the War, we'd have won the Championship again, the average age of those players was about 24 or 25".[41]

Lawton continued to play for both Everton and England during the war. However the FA decided to not award full caps for England appearances during the war, and as a result his 24 goals in 23 international games were not counted in statistics for the official England team.[42] As was common for footballers during the war, he also made guest appearances for a number of clubs besides Everton, including Leicester City, Greenock Morton, Chester City, Aldershot, and Tranmere Rovers.[43][44] He was called up to the British Army in January 1940, and his status as an England international saw him recruited to the Royal Army Physical Training Corps.[45] He also played for the British Army team and his Area Command team.[46] He was posted in Birkenhead, which allowed him to frequently appear for Everton.[47] On Christmas Day 1940, he played for Everton against Liverpool at Anfield in the morning and for Tranmere Rovers at Crewe Alexandra in the afternoon.[48] Explaining this later, he said, 'The Tranmere people came into the dressing room and asked if anyone wanted to play as they were two men short. I said, "Go on, I'll help you out." And I did.'[49] In 1942 he scored a hat-trick for England in a 5–4 win over Scotland at Hampden Park.[50] Later in the year he scored six goals for Aldershot in a 9–0 win over Luton Town.[51] On 16 October 1943, he scored four goals in an 8–0 victory over Scotland at Maine Road.[52]

In July 1945, Lawton handed in a transfer request at Everton as he wanted a move to a Southern club so as to see more of his increasingly estranged wife.[53] In November 1945, he was sold to Chelsea for a fee of £14,000.[54] Chelsea continued to play regional wartime fixtures as national league football had not resumed for the 1945–46 season, and Lawton also continued his uncapped appearances for the England national team.[55] In the summer of 1946, following his demobilisation, he coached for the FA in a summer camp in Switzerland.[56] He scored a club record 26 goals in 34 league games in the 1946–47 season.[57] However he struggled to settle at Stamford Bridge and came into conflict with manager Billy Birrell after refusing to go on a pre-season tour of Sweden in 1947, which resulted in him requesting a transfer.[58] He favoured a move to Arsenal, but this was ruled out by the Chelsea hierarchy.[59] Lawton turned down an approach by Sunderland manager Bill Murray as he held out hope that Chelsea would relent and allow him a move to Arsenal.[60]

Jackie Sewell and Tommy Lawton

In November 1947, Lawton was sold to Notts County of the Third Division South for a British record transfer fee of £20,000[61] (equivalent to £788,300 in 2019).[62] He made the surprise decision to drop down two divisions so as to be reunited with manager Arthur Stollery, his former masseur and friend at Chelsea, and because he was promised a job outside of football upon his retirement by vice-chairman Harold Walmsley.[61] Walmsley told the Nottingham Guardian Journal that "we are prepared to spend to the limit to put this old club back where it belongs".[63] He scored two goals on his home debut, a 4–2 win over Bristol Rovers in front of 38,000 spectators at Meadow Lane – a huge increase on previous home games of typically 6,000 to 7,000 supporters.[64] He ended the 1947–48 season with 24 goals in as many games, though was resented by the club's directors after he insisted on pay rises for his teammates and stopped the practice of director's friends and family travelling to away games on the team coach.[65]

He formed a productive forward partnership with Jackie Sewell in the 1948–49 campaign, and scored 23 goals in 40 league and cup appearances.[65] County finished in mid-table despite scoring 102 goals, 15 more than champions Swansea.[66] Stollery was sacked and upon Lawton's suggestion the club appointed Eric Houghton as manager after Lawton turned down the role as player-manager.[67] Lawton and Sewell's understanding grew throughout the 1949–50 campaign, and Lawton finished as the division's top-scorer with 31 goals in 37 league games as County won promotion as champions, seven points ahead of second-placed Northampton Town.[68] Promotion was secured with a 2–0 win over local rivals Nottingham Forest at Meadow Lane on 22 April.[68]

However he struggled with poor form during the 1950–51 season as his first marriage was coming to an end and he came into increasing conflict with his teammates.[69] He was angered when the club sold Jackie Sewell to Sheffield Wednesday in March 1951 – breaking Lawton's own transfer record in the process – as he felt the move showed a lack of ambition from the club's directors.[70] He also found that the well paid job he was promised outside of football did not transpire.[71] His tally of nine goals in 31 games in 1950–51 and 13 goals in 31 games in 1951–52 was disappointing, and he was made available for transfer.[72]

In March 1952, Lawton joined Second Division side Brentford for a club record £16,000 fee.[73] Manager Jackie Gibbons left the club at the start of the 1952–53 season and was succeeded by his assistant Jimmy Bain, who proved ill-suited to management, and so in January 1953 Lawton was appointed as player-manager, with Bain as his assistant.[74] However he lost the dressing room due to his excessive demands of the players, and the strains of management were having a negative impact on his form.[74] Brentford also lost their best players having sold both Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill.[74] He signed two veterans in former Notts County teammate Frank Broome and Ian McPherson to play on the wings, who, with Lawton, formed an attacking trio with a combined age of 104.[75] They got off to a poor start to the 1953–54 season, and Lawton resigned as manager after the Griffin Park crowd began to mock the forward line by singing Dear Old Pals.[75]

In November 1953, Lawton was traded to First Division champions Arsenal for £7,500 plus James Robertson who was valued at £2,500.[48][76] He was signed by manager Tom Whittaker, who had previously found success in bringing in veterans such as Ronnie Rooke and Joe Mercer.[76] However Lawton was limited to ten appearances in the 1953–54 campaign after picking up an injury on his debut.[77] He also played in the 1953 Charity Shield, scoring one goal as Arsenal beat Blackpool 3–1.[48] He scored seven goals in 20 appearances throughout the 1954–55 season, including winning goals against Chelsea and Cardiff City.[78] He scored a hat-trick past Cardiff City on the opening day of the 1955–56 season, before he announced his decision to leave Arsenal to pursue a career in management eight games into the campaign.[79]

"More than 20 years of soccer. What glorious years. Years that all the money in the world couldn't buy. I have been lucky. I have played with great clubs; I have escaped serious injury; I have played for my country; I have even captained my country; I have won many of the game's top honours. Soccer has been good to me and I hope that I have repaid the game in some small way. I have had great experiences. I have met some wonderful people. I have memories that nobody can take away from me. If I could turn the clock back 20 years, I would still go into the game as a full-time professional and I can say to any lad who is contemplating a career in football: Go ahead son ... providing you are willing to work and work hard and providing you are willing to learn the craft thoroughly. You will meet some of the grandest fellows you could ever wish to meet and you will have a pleasant, healthy life and be quite well paid for it.

— Lawton reflected on his career in his book My Twenty Years of Soccer.[80]

Source:[135]

• Sourced from Tommy Lawton profile at the England Football Online website

Everton

• Football League First Division champion: 1938–39[2]

Notts County

• Football League Third Division South champion: 1949–50[2]

Arsenal

• Charity Shield winner: 1953[48]

England

• British Home Championship winner: 1938–39 (shared), 1946–47, 1947–48[2]

Kettering Town

• Southern Football League champion: 1956–57[104]

• First Division top scorer: 1937–38, 1938–39[33]
• Third Division South top scorer: 1949–50[68]
• English Football Hall of Fame: 2003[5]
• Notts County FC Hall of Fame: 2014[4]