Tommy Ring

Thomas Ring (8 August 1930 – 5 October 1997) was a Scottish footballer, who played at outside left for Ashfield Juniors, Clyde, Everton, Barnsley, Aberdeen, Fraserburgh, Stevenage Town and for Scotland.

This article is about the Scottish footballer. For the Irish hurler, see Tommy Ring (hurler). For the Danish singer, see Thomas Ring.

Tommy Ring
Personal information
Full name Thomas Ring[1]
Date of birth (1930-08-08)8 August 1930
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death 5 October 1997(1997-10-05) (aged 67)
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Outside left
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1948–1949 Ashfield
1949–1960 Clyde 280 (124)
1960–1961 Everton 27 (6)
1961–1963 Barnsley 21 (1)
1963 Aberdeen 2 (0)
1963–1964 Fraserburgh
1964–1965 Stevenage Town
National team
1953–1957 Scotland 12 (2)
1953–1957 Scottish League XI 8 (4)
1952 Scottish League Two XI[2] 1 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Ring was born in Glasgow and is best known for his time with Clyde, during which he won the Scottish Cup in 1954–55 and also in 1957–58. Ring scored the winning goal in the 1955 Scottish Cup Final replay versus Celtic.[3] Clyde also won Scottish Division Two Championships in 1951–52 and 1956–57.

He scored scored 178 goals in 384 appearances (national competitions only) for Clyde.[4]

Ring was transferred to Everton in January 1960 for £12,000.[5] He made a significant contribution for the Toffees in the 1960–61 season; many headlines were written concerning him, such as 'Blues could just Ring for service'.[6]

Ring departed Goodison Park after a broken leg injury in November 1961[6] and then signed for Barnsley. He returned to Scotland in 1963 to sign for Aberdeen for a short spell before ending his career with further brief spells at Fraserburgh in the Scottish Highland Football League and then Stevenage Town in the English Southern Football League.

International career

Ring was capped a dozen times for Scotland whilst playing for the Bully Wee and scored two goals, with one versus the famous Hungary team with Ferenc Puskás during the 1954–55 season. The other was scored versus England at Wembley in 1957. Ring scored in the first minute, although England went on to win 2–1. Five of Ring's dozen caps were earned whilst the Bully Wee were playing in Division Two.[7] Ring also represented the Scottish League XI.[8]

His goal against England was as a Division Two (second tier) player. He was the last player to achieve this feat until Lawrence Shankland against San Marino in 2019.[9]

Ring's name is now a running gag on BBC Radio Scotland's Off the Ball radio programme, as his surname has multiple connotations. This ensures that he makes it into the show's 'team of the week' almost every Saturday.[10]

Honours
Clyde

Scottish Cup:

Scottish Division Two:

B Division Supplementary Cup:

Glasgow Cup:

Glasgow Charity Cup:

Individual

Clyde FC Hall of Fame: 2016
Abbeyleix Hall of Fame[16]

References
  1. "Tommy Ring". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  2. Scottish League Division B team scottishleague.net. Retrieved 28-10-2013.
  3. "Clyde win the Scottish Cup for second time". Glasgow Herald. 29 April 1955. Retrieved 24 September 2018 – via The Celtic Wiki.
  4. "Clyde Legends: Archie Robertson & Tommy Ring". Scottish League. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. "Thomas Ring". Everton F.C. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  6. "Blues could just Ring for service". Liverpool Echo. 24 November 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  7. Scotland Caps Below Top Level of Scottish football ScottishLeague.Net. Retrieved 19-03-2014.
  8. "Scotland FL Players by Appearances". Londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  9. "Tommy Ring". Herald Scotland. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  10. "Off The Bawl - 5 May". BBC. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  11. "1951–52: Clyde 5 v 1 St. Johnstone". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
    "1951–52: St Johnstone 2 v 2 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  12. "1951–52: Celtic 1 v 2 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  13. "1958–59: Rangers 0 v 1 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  14. "1951–52: Third Lanark 2 v 2 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  15. "1957–58: Rangers 0 v 4 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  16. "Hall of Fame: Tommy Ring". Irish Heritage Towns. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
    "A trip down memory lane: This 'Ring' a bell?". Laois People. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
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