| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Sloan | ||
| Date of birth | 13 October 1925 | ||
| Place of birth | Barrhead, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 13 January 2010 (aged 84) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||
| Playing position | Right winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1946 | Arthurlie | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1946–1951 | Hearts | 110 | (24) |
| 1951–1957 | Motherwell | 112 | (35) |
| 1957–1960 | Gloucester City | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Thomas "Tommy" Sloan (13 October 1925 – 13 January 2010) [1] was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a right winger, most notable for being a member of the first Motherwell side to win the Scottish Cup, in 1951–52.
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played with a spherical ball between two teams of eleven players. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies, making it the world's most popular sport. The game is played on a rectangular field called a pitch with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by moving the ball beyond the goal line into the opposing goal.
Motherwell Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have lifted one trophy in that time – the Scottish Cup in 1991.
Born in Barrhead, Renfrewshire, Sloan joined local Junior side Arthurlie in 1942 and, after switching from centre forward to the right wing, became a regular in the first team. With the Second World War at its destructive zenith, many of Sloan's contemporaries enlisted in the British armed services to fight abroad. However, his work manufacturing munitions at the Shanks factory in Barrhead was considered a reserved occupation and he remained in Scotland. He would later work in the dockyards in Renfrew, another reserved occupation.
Barrhead is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) south-west of Glasgow on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268.
Renfrewshire ; is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being East Renfrewshire to the east and Inverclyde to the west. It also shares borders with Glasgow, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on The southern bank of The River Clyde. The term Renfrewshire may also be used to refer to this historic county, also known as the County of Renfrew or Greater Renfrewshire, which remains in use as a registration county and lieutenancy area.
The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football played, not the age of the players. The closest equivalent terminology would be non-League football in England, the difference being that non-league football in Scotland is not similarly integrated into its football league system. Founded in 1886, the SJFA is responsible for disciplinary matters within the grade, certain player registration procedures and organising the annual Scottish Junior Cup. Other league and cup competitions are organised by three regional committees. The association headquarters are at Hampden Park, Glasgow, which is Scotland's national football stadium. There was an earlier Scottish Junior FA, which was founded in Glasgow in October 1880. This body also ran a Scottish Junior Cup competition during 1880–81 season but appears to have disbanded at the end of that season.
Sloan's performances with Arthurlie led to his selection for the Scotland Junior international side. [2] They also attracted the attention of several League clubs and in 1945, after a dispute with the Arthurlie management, he signed for Hearts. He agreed, however, to stay with Arthurlie for the duration of their Scottish Junior Cup campaign, eventually helping them to the final, where they lost 2–0 to Fauldhouse United.
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland. From its foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League (SPL) was formed in 1998, the SFL represented the top level of football in Scotland. After 1998, the SFL represented levels 2 to 4 of the Scottish football league system. In June 2013, the SFL merged with the SPL to form the Scottish Professional Football League.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a Scottish professional football club based in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, Scotland, that plays in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier in Scottish football. Hearts are the oldest football club in the Scottish capital, as they were formed in 1874 by a group of friends from the Heart of Midlothian Quadrille Assembly, whose name was influenced by Walter Scott's novel The Heart of Midlothian. The modern club crest is based on the Heart of Midlothian mosaic on the city's Royal Mile and the team's colours are predominantly maroon and white.
The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association for all its member clubs. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2017–18 season, 159 teams are registered to take part. The cup has an unseeded knockout format with semi-finals over two legs and the final played at a neutral venue, always that of an SPFL club.
Sloan made his debut for Hearts in the 1946–47 season and quickly became a regular feature in the side. His supply from the right wing helped the burgeoning Terrible Trio inside forward combination of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh in their prolific scoring feats, while Sloan himself maintained a respectable scoring record. [2]
The 1946–47 season was the 74th season of competitive football in Scotland and the 50th season of the Scottish Football League.
Willie Bauld was a footballer who played for Newtongrange Star, Heart of Midlothian, Edinburgh City and the Scotland national team.
Jimmy Wardhaugh was a Scottish professional footballer, most fondly remembered as part of the Terrible Trio Heart of Midlothian forward line of the 1950s, alongside Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn. He was also the club's record League goal-scorer for almost 40 years, until his tally of 206 was surpassed by John Robertson in 1997.
The death of Hearts manager Davie McLean in February 1951 eventually led to Sloan's departure from Tynecastle. McLean's assistant, Tommy Walker, inherited the role of manager and, after an initial settling-in period, started to remould the side in his image. One of his first signings was veteran Rangers winger Eddie Rutherford and, for the first time in five seasons, Sloan found himself out of the first-team. [2] In November 1951, Sloan and another displaced team-mate Charlie Cox joined Motherwell in a £6,500 joint transfer. [2]
Rangers Football Club are a football club in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premiership, the first tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Although it is not part of the official name, they are occasionally referred to as Glasgow Rangers; their home ground, Ibrox Stadium, is in the south-west of the city in the Govan district.
Edward 'Eddie' Rutherford was a Scottish footballer who played for Rangers, Hearts and Scotland.
Within months of their move to Fir Park, the Scottish Cup draw afforded the opportunity for Sloan and Cox to play former club Hearts, in the semi-final at Hampden Park. After two close games were drawn 1–1, the pair enjoyed their revenge on former manager Walker as Motherwell won the second replay 3–1, reaching the final for the fourth time in their history. They had lost all three previous finals, to Celtic (twice) and Clyde, but Sloan helped the Steelmen overcome the weight of history to record a comfortable 4–0 win over Dundee. [3]
Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. Motherwell moved to the stadium in 1895, previously playing their football at Dalziel Park.
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 51,866-capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the normal home venue of the Scotland national football team and amateur Scottish league club Queen's Park F.C. and regularly hosts the latter stages of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup competitions. It is also used for music concerts and other sporting events, such as when it was reconfigured as an athletics stadium for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The Celtic Football Club are a professional football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigrant Irish population in the East End of Glasgow. They played their first match in May 1888, a friendly match against Rangers which Celtic won 5–2. Celtic established themselves within Scottish football, winning six successive league titles during the first decade of the 20th century. The club enjoyed their greatest successes during the 1960s and 70s under Jock Stein when they won nine consecutive league titles and the 1967 European Cup.
Surprisingly, Motherwell suffered their first ever relegation the following year, although in an incredibly tight competition they finished only five points behind fourth-placed Hearts. Sloan stayed with the side despite their demotion, helping them win the Second Division title at the first attempt in 1953–54. He appeared in the Motherwell side that reached the 1954 Scottish League Cup Final, but Hearts proved too strong on that occasion, winning 4–2.
Sloan eventually left Motherwell for English non-league side Gloucester City in 1957, where he stayed for three seasons. [2] He returned to Scotland to coach old side Arthurlie in 1960 in his native Barrhead, concurrently returning to work in the town's Shanks factory. [2]
