Tom Manley (footballer)

Last updated

Tom Manley
Tom Manley, Brentford F.C. footballer, 1949.jpg
Manley while a Brentford player
Personal information
Full name Thomas Ronald Manley [1]
Date of birth 7 October 1912
Place of birth Northwich, England
Date of death 4 July 1988(1988-07-04) (aged 75) [1]
Place of death Brentwood, England
Height6 ft 1+12 in (1.87 m) [2]
Position(s) Utility player, outside left
Youth career
1927–1928 Brunner Mond
1928–1929 Norley United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1929–1930 Northwich Victoria
1930–1939 Manchester United 188 (40)
1939–1952 Brentford 116 (8)
Managerial career
1954 Northwich Victoria
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas Ronald Manley (7 October 1912 – 4 July 1988) was an English professional footballer who made over 300 appearances in the Football League for Manchester United and Brentford as a utility player. He later managed hometown club Northwich Victoria in non-League football.

Contents

Playing career

Early years

Manley began his career with junior clubs Brunner Mond and Norley United, before joining Cheshire County League club Northwich Victoria in 1929. [3] He remained at Drill Field until September 1930. [3]

Manchester United

Manley was brought to First Division club Manchester United by scout Louis Rocca on an amateur basis in September 1930. [3] At the end of the 1930–31 season, after the club's relegation to the Second Division, he signed a professional contract. [3] Manley broke into the team over the course of the 1932–33 and 1933–34 seasons and scored 15 goals in United's 1935–36 Second Division title-winning campaign. [4] After suffering relegation straight back to the Second Division at the end of the 1936–37 season, he helped the team to an immediate return to the top-flight one season later. [4] 1938–39 was Manley's final season at Old Trafford and he finished his Manchester United career having made 195 appearances and scored 41 goals. [4] Predominantly an outside left, he also performed the role of a utility player at Old Trafford by also playing in half and full back positions. [4]

Brentford

Manley joined First Division club Brentford for a "substantial fee" in August 1939 and was immediately named captain. [5] Just three matches of the 1939–40 season were played before the season was abandoned and competitive football was suspended for the duration of the Second World War. [5] Manley's duties with the RAF meant that he appeared sparingly for the club during the war, making just 36 appearances and scoring six goals by the end of the 1945–46 season. [6] He also played as a guest player for Blackpool, Chester, Fulham, Manchester United, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur during the war. [7] Competitive football resumed for the 1946–47 season and Manley would go on to make 122 appearances and scored 8 goals for the club before making his final appearance in September 1950. [8] [5] He remained as Griffin Park as a reserve team player for the 1951–52 season (playing one match as a goalkeeper) before retiring at age 39 in May 1952. [5] Manley was awarded a joint-testimonial with Ted Gaskell versus a Tommy Lawton XI in April 1954. [5]

Management career

Manley managed Cheshire County League club Northwich Victoria, with whom he began his career as a player, between March and October 1954. [5]

Personal life

Manley served in the RAF during the Second World War. [5] After his retirement from football, he became the licensee of a pub in Northwich. [5]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 1931–32 [4] Second Division 300030
1932–33 [4] Second Division19000190
1933–34 [4] Second Division30220322
1934–35 [4] Second Division30910319
1935–36 [4] Second Division3114313415
1936–37 [4] First Division 31500315
1937–38 [4] Second Division21710227
1938–39 [4] First Division23300233
Total188407119541
Brentford 1946–47 [8] First Division900090
1947–48 [8] Second Division27020290
1948–49 [8] Second Division42340463
1949–50 [8] Second Division33200332
1950–51 [8] Second Division520052
Total1168601228
Career total3044813131749

Honours

Manchester United

Related Research Articles

John Smith was an English footballer and football manager. A forward, he scored 119 goals in 216 league games during nine seasons of peacetime football in the Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witton Albion F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Witton Albion F.C. are a football club based in Northwich, England. They were founded in 1887. They have won the Cheshire Senior Cup 11 times since 1902. Their most recent success in this competition was in 2006, when they defeated Stalybridge Celtic in the final. They have also reached the FA Cup Second Round on at least three occasions. The club will play in the Northern Premier League Division One North in the 2015–16 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Roberts (footballer, born 1893)</span> English footballer

Frank Roberts was an English professional footballer who played for Manchester City between 1922 and 1928. He could play either as an inside forward or a centre forward.

Andrew Todd Mutch is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. During his playing career, he was widely known for his partnership with Steve Bull at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Brown (soccer, born 1908)</span> American soccer player

James Brown was a Scottish American soccer player who played for the United States men's national soccer team at the 1930 FIFA World Cup, scoring the only goal of the American team in their 6–1 semi-final loss to Argentina. He began his career in the American Soccer League before moving to England and then Scotland. After retiring from playing, he coached at the youth, senior amateur, and professional levels. He was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1986.

William McKay was a Scottish footballer who played for Bolton Wanderers and Manchester United in the 1930s. He also played for East Stirlingshire, Hamilton Academical and Stalybridge Celtic. He helped Manchester United to win promotion out of the Football League Second Division in 1935–36 and 1937–38.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddy Fagan</span> Irish footballer

Fionan "Paddy" Fagan was an Irish footballer who played as a winger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwich Victoria F.C.</span> Association football club in Wincham, England

Northwich Victoria Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Northwich, Cheshire, which compete in the Midland League Premier Division. They play home games at Barton Stadium, in a groundshare agreement with nearby rivals Winsford United. They had played at the same Drill Field ground between 1875 and 2002, which was at the time of its demolition was believed to be the oldest ground in the world on which football had been continuously played. They played at the short-lived Victoria Stadium between 2005 and 2011, and have since been forced to share grounds with nearby clubs.

Albert Beech was an English footballer who played as a defender for Port Vale, Altrincham, Huddersfield Town, Notts County, and Northwich Victoria. He played in the First Division with Huddersfield and won the Cheshire Senior Cup with Altrincham.

JamesBain was a Scottish professional footballer and manager, best remembered for his 28 years as a player, manager and assistant manager at Brentford. In 2013, Bain placed fifth in a Football League 125th Anniversary poll of Brentford's best ever captains and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in May 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Capper</span> English footballer

Alfred Capper was an English footballer who played as an outside forward. Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, he played for Northwich Victoria, Manchester United, Witton Albion, Sheffield Wednesday and Brentford.

William Owen was a Welsh footballer who played as an outside left.

Geoffrey Peter Davies is an English former professional footballer who played in the United Kingdom and the United States as a midfielder.

George Heywood was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Port Vale and Southport.

Harry Ware was an English football player and manager. A forward, he played for Newcastle United, Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City and managed Crewe Alexandra and Northwich Victoria.

John Aloysius Paton was a Scottish professional football player, manager, coach, scout and later a professional snooker referee. He began his career in Scotland with Celtic and played in the Football League for Chelsea, Brentford and Watford. Paton later managed Watford and Arsenal 'A'.

John William Holliday was an English professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League for Brentford and Middlesbrough. In 2013, Holliday was voted by the Brentford supporters as the club's fourth-greatest ever player and he holds the club record for most goals in a season. He was posthumously inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in 2015.

Andrew James Feeley is an English retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for Leicester City, Brentford, Bury and Hereford United as a right back. He later became manager of North West Counties League club Ramsbottom United and also worked as scout.

Herbert Swindells was an English professional footballer who first rose to prominence playing for Crewe Alexandra. He scored 128 League goals for Crewe – a club record that still stands. In 1937 he joined but never played for Chesterfield, later moving on to play for Barrow, Chelmsford, Bradford City, Mossley and Macclesfield Town, where he was joint top-scorer in the 1946–47 season. He later had two spells as manager of Macclesfield Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Fitzpatrick (footballer, born 1990)</span> English footballer

David James Fitzpatrick is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for Northern Premier League Division One West club Avro.

References

  1. 1 2 "Tom Manley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  2. "Manchester United. Weak positions improved". Sunday Dispatch Football Guide. London. 23 August 1936. p. v via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Manley Tom Manchester United 1938". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Tommy Manley". 11v11.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Yore Publications. pp. 99–100. ISBN   978-0955294914.
  6. White 1989, p. 375-378.
  7. Goodwin, Bob (2017). The Spurs Alphabet. Lulu.com. p. 290. ISBN   978-0-9540434-2-1.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 378–381. ISBN   0951526200.