Thomas Dewhurst

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Thomas Dewhurst
Personal information
Full name Thomas Dewhurst
Date of birth 20 December 1862
Place of birth Samlesbury, Lancashire
Date of death 20 January 1940(1940-01-20) (aged 77)
Place of death Penwortham, Lancashire
Position(s) Half-back
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1879–86, 1887–88 Blackburn Olympic
1884 Burnley
1886–87 Halliwell
1888 Nelson
1891–92 Higher Walton
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
The Blackburn Olympic Cup-winning side in 1883. Dewhurst is standing third from the left in the top row BlackburnOlympic1883.jpg
The Blackburn Olympic Cup-winning side in 1883. Dewhurst is standing third from the left in the top row

Thomas "Tom" Dewhurst (20 December 1862 - 20 January 1940) was an association footballer who won the FA Cup as a player for Blackburn Olympic in 1883.

Contents

Early life

Like most of the Olympic side, generally considered "not high enough on the social scale", [1] Dewhurst was of solid working-class stock; his father (also Thomas) was a spinning master at a Blackburn cotton mill, [2] and Dewhurst also became a weaver. [3]

Football career

Blackburn Olympic

Dewhurst had been scouted by the Olympic after showing form for the Black Prince junior side, and, after a period with the reserves, was promoted to the first team in an emergency for a match against Church in 1882; [4] once in the side, he became a near-permanent fixture on the right-wing. [5]

His competitive debut for the club came in the first round of the 1882–83 FA Cup, making one of the goals in Olympic's 6–3 win over Accrington. [6] He made two goals, and scored one himself, in the 8–1 win over Lower Darwen in the second round, [7] and scored the opening goal in the semi-final against Old Carthusians inside the first five minutes. [8] His, and Olympic's, season reached a climax in beating the Old Etonians in the final, the winning goal coming in the second half of extra time after Dewhurst crossed for James Costley to finish. [9]

It was the club's final trophy. Dewhurst was part of the Olympic side which lost the Lancashire Senior Cup final in 1884. [10]

At the start of the 1884–85 season, Dewhurst was found in Burnley colours, [11] despite an expectation that he would join Bolton Wanderers. [12] His stint with Burnley however only lasted one match; he promptly returned to Olympic for the season, [13] and scored a hat-trick in the 12–0 win at Oswaldtwistle Rovers, [14] but his season ended after he broke his arm in a match against Darwen. [15] His final full season with Olympic in 1885–86 was a disappointment, the opinion being that he had become "downright lazy", [16] although he scored in two of the three matches Olympic played against Church in the 1885–86 FA Cup, which ended in the Olympians' defeat. [17]

Dropped by England

Dewhurst was selected to play for the England national football team for the match against Ireland in 1884, but was dropped from the squad after an incident in the 1883–84 FA Cup fifth round tie against Northwich Victoria; the Olympic, dominating the opponents, "played pranks with them to the amusement of the spectators", and, after a report that Dewhurst had thrown mud at one of the Victoria players, the Football Association notified Dewhurst his services were no longer required. [18]

Post-Olympic

In 1886, Dewhurst moved to Halliwell, which had also recruited players from Great Lever in an attempt to step up in the national game. [19] Unfortunately for the Halliwellians, its move came too late, as its new players were not registered in time to play in the 1886–87 FA Cup, so it scratched from its first round tie with Blackburn Rovers. A sign of the potential was that Halliwell instead played out a friendly, which ended 3–3, Dewhurst scoring twice. [20] However the Halliwell project fell apart; Dewhurst was out of form in the Halliwellians' Lancashire Cup defeat to Higher Walton [21] and fell ill during a match with Preston North End in sodden conditions in October. [22] By December 1887, Dewhurst had "been discharged" by Halliwell, and returned to Olympic, where he showed "flashes of his old form". [23]

In 1888, Dewhurst joined Nelson, along with former team-mate Costley, [24] but the arrangement did not seem to last long, and Dewhurst finished his career in 1891–92 playing for Higher Walton. [25]

Personal life

Dewhurst married Mary Neville on 21 October 1884, at St John the Evangelist Church in Blackburn. The couple had one daughter. In later life, following an injury, he became a publican. [26] He was the last surviving member of the Olympic Cup-winning side, dying after a short illness in Penwortham in 1940. [27]

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References

  1. ↑ "Football". Blackburn Standard: 3. 7 April 1883.
  2. ↑ Census. Municipal ward of St John, Blackburn: HMSO. 1871. p. 13.
  3. ↑ Jensen, Neil Frederik. "Great Reputations: Blackburn Olympic 1883 – working class heroes". Game of the people. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  4. ↑ "Reminiscences with Tom Dewhurst". Lancashire Evening Post: 11. 10 August 1939.
  5. ↑ "Notes by "Free-kick"". Blackburn Standard: 6. 16 September 1882.
  6. ↑ "Blackburn Olympic v Accrington". Blackburn Standard: 3. 11 November 1882.
  7. ↑ "Blackburn Olympic v Lower Darwen". Blackburn Standard: 3. 16 December 1882.
  8. ↑ "The Association Challenge Cup - Semi-final Ties". Athletic News: 3. 21 March 1883.
  9. ↑ "Victory of the Blackburn Olympic". Bolton Evening News: 4. 2 April 1883.
  10. ↑ "The Lancashire Association Challenge Cup - Final Tie". Blackburn Standard: 3. 26 April 1884.
  11. ↑ "Bolton Wanderers v Burnley". Athletic News: 3. 10 September 1884.
  12. ↑ "The Football Field". Bolton Evening News: 3. 14 April 1884.
  13. ↑ "Burnley v Blackpool". Burnley Express: 3. 20 September 1884.
  14. ↑ "report". Blackburn Standard: 3. 20 September 1884.
  15. ↑ "Accident on the football field". Preston Herald: 7. 15 April 1885.
  16. ↑ "En passant". Athletic News: 1. 29 September 1885.
  17. ↑ "report". Cricket & Football Field: 8. 21 November 1885.
  18. ↑ "Football". Liverpool Mercury: x. 25 February 1884.
  19. ↑ "Nuggets". Cricket & Football Field: 13. 14 August 1886.
  20. ↑ "report". Blackburn Standard: 3. 6 November 1886.
  21. ↑ "Higher Walton v Halliwell". Athletic News: 4. 4 October 1887.
  22. ↑ "En passant". Athletic News: 1. 11 October 1887.
  23. ↑ "The Olympic at Padiham". Cricket & Football Field: 8. 3 December 1887.
  24. ↑ "Blackburn and district". Athletic News: 5. 11 September 1888.
  25. ↑ "A grand league victory for Nelson". Burnley Express: 4. 20 January 1892.
  26. ↑ England and Wales Register. Preston Road, Lancashire: HMSO. 1939.
  27. ↑ "Death of Mr T. Dewhurst, Penwortham". Lancashire Evening Post. 22 January 1940.
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