Players Index Page Last Updated
Tommy Lawton
Everton FC, Chelsea FC, Notts County FC
23 appearances, 22 goals, two penalties
P 23 W 16 D 4 L 3 F 76: A 21
78% successful
captain: none
minutes played: 2070
Full name Thomas Lawton
Born 6 October 1919 in 43 Macdonald Street, Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire [registered in Bolton, December 1919].
Attended Tonge Moor Council School & Castle Hill School in Bolton. Also Folds Road Central School.
census notes
According to the 1939 register, Thomas is a professional footballer, living at 1 Edgemoor Drive in the Fazackerley area of Liverpool.
Married twice, firstly to Rosaleen May Kavanagh in January 1941 [registered in Liverpool North, March 1941], one child, Amanda, they divorced in March 1951. He married Gladys M. Rose on 23 September 1952 at Caxton Hall [registered in Westminster, September 1952], two children, Carol and Thomas junior
Died 6 November 1996, aged 77 years 31 days [registered in Nottingham, November 1996] of pneumonia. His ashes are held at National Football Museum
Height/Weight 5' 11", 12st. 0lbs [1947].
Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & FindMyPast.com
Biographies Football Is My Business - Tommy Lawton (Sporting Handbooks, London 1948)
Soccer: The Lawton Way - Tommy Lawton (Nicholas Kaye, London 1954)
My Twenty Years in Soccer - Tommy Lawton (Heirloom, Norwich 1955)
When The Cheering Stopped - Tommy Lawton (Golden Eagle, Leicester 1973)
The Complete Centre-Forward: The Authorised Biography of Tommy Lawton - David McVay & Andy Smith (Sportsbooks, Worcester 2000)
"Get In There!" Tommy Lawton - My Friend, My Father - Barrie Williams & Tom Lawton Junior (Vision Sports Publishing, Kingston-upon-Thames 2010)
x. - A Football Compendium, Peter J. Seddon (1999).
Club(s) Through his schoolboy football, Lawton was chosen to play for Bolton Town Schools and representing Lancashire schools and was scoring for fun in the Bolton League, for Hayes Athletic FC. After leaving school, however, the Lawton family turned down the opportunity for him to sign for Bolton Wanderers FC, so the 15-year old Tommy signed for Lancashire Combination's Rossendale United FC. Liverpool FC, Bury FC and Blackburn Rovers FC all invited Lawton for trials, but Lawton signed for Sheffield Wednesday FC, but that move was usurped by his family. So instead, Tommy signed for Burnley FC in May 1935, being paid as the club's secretary's assistant. The deal also included a job as assistant groundsman at Turf Moor for his grandfather, Jim Riley, also his surrogate father. The whole family too, were moved to Burnshaw Road in Burnley, rent-free, and the sixteen year old made his debut in March 1936 and would play 25 league matches, scoring sixteen goals. He signed professional forms with Burnley shortly after his seventeenth birthday. His for, was soon noted and Burnley would sell to Everton FC on 31 December 1936 for a record fee for a teenager, £6,500, scoring an astonishing 65 goals in 83 league appearances. During the war, which saw Lawton become a Training Instructor, achieving Company Sergeant Major status, he still played for Everton and he guested for Leicester City FC, Aldershot FC and even Greenock Morton FC, earning a solitary Scottish League appearance and a single goal. As the hostilities concluded, in July 1945, Lawton handed in a transfer request to Everton which was eventually accepted under protest. He did not want to leave Everton FC, but he had to leave the city and his failed marriage. It was Chelsea FC that signed him, on 7 November 1945 for £14,000. He would score thirty goals in 42 league appearances. However, his refusal to join his club on a tour of Scandinavia because of mental and physical fatigue spelt the end for Lawton, and when his transfer request was aqain, eventually accepted under protest, Lawton chose Notts County FC, and on 13 November 1947 for a £20,000 fee (£17,000 plus William Dickson), a deal was finalised. Despite dropping from the first to the third division of the Football League, it showed the measure of the man Lawton was. It was down to Arthur Strollery, the man who signed him at County was the masseur at Stamford Bridge, he became Lawton's confident through his difficult Stamford Bridge days. On the day Chelsea sacked Strollery, Lawton promised to sign for him should the opportunity arise, the handshake was the contract, so when the list of club's arrived for Lawton to consider, Strollery's Notts County was the only club for him. But eventually, Stroller left, and Lawton displeased the County directors and after ninety goals in 151 league matches, he was eventually sold to Brentford FC in March 1952 for £15,000. Another 50 league matches, but a less emphatic seventeen goals followed. But as Lawton became despondent at Griffin Park, resigning from his position as the manager on 9 September 1953, the opportunity arose for him to join Arsenal FC, and a move he had dreamed off since his Chelsea days. On 18 September 1953, following Arsenal's poor start to a season, Lawton signed for Tom Whittaker for £7,500 and Jimmy Robertson. After a return to the top division, Lawton ended his career with 35 league appearances and thirteen goals. Upon his retirement, in September 1955, Lawton had amassed 231 league goals in 390 appearances.
Club honours Lancashire Schools Cup runners-up 1932-33; Glasgow Empire Exhibition Cup runners-up 1938; Football League Champions 1938-39; Football League Division Three (South) winners 1949-50;
Individual honours Football League (three appearances, four debut goals)
Distinctions On 28 March 1936, Tommy Lawton, aged 16 years and 174 days, became the youngest ever centre-forward to play in the Football League, for Burnley FC against Doncaster Rovers FC.
Also played cricket rather well in his youth, for the Burnley Cricket Team in the Lancashire County League.
Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & Tom Lawton's biography.
Management Career
Club(s) Lawton turned down the opportunity who became the Notts County's player-manager in the summer of 1946. When the opportunity arose again, Lawton grasped it when he was six months into his time at Brentford FC, in September 1952. But Lawton soon found the task difficult, so resigned from the managerial position a year later, 9 September 1953. A week later, he left Griffin Park to secure his dream move to Highbury. A third opportunity arose to manage a team, this time Southern League team Kettering Town FC, his sole position would be to manage the side in September 1955. It was the move that added to his decision to retire from playing. Kettering paid Arsenal a £1000 fee. In the summer of 1957, Lawton retuned to Notts County, who had since dropped divisions, as their new manager. He was unceremoniously sacked on 7 June 1958. He did, however, return to Kettering to help them on a part-time basis in 1964-65. But could not save them from relegation. In 1968, Lawton once again returned to Notts County, this time in an advisory capacity. For the final time, he was sacked in 1969 as a new chairman came in.
Club honours None
England Career
Player number 647th player to appear for England.
Position(s) Centre-forward
First match No. 219, 22 October 1938, Wales 4 England 2, a British Championship match at Ninian Park, Sloper Road, Cardiff, aged 19 years 16 days.
Last match No. 241, 26 September 1948, Denmark 0 England 0, a friendly match at Idaetsparken, Kobenhavn, aged 28 years 356 days.
Major tournaments British Championship 1938-39, 1946-47, 1947-48;
Team honours British Championship shared 1938-39, winners 1946-47, 1947-48;
Individual honours England wartime international (24 appearances, several as captain, 23 goals), England Schoolboy trialist
Distinctions Youngest-ever England penalty scorer and the youngest player, until May 2016, to score on his debut.
Beyond England
Tommy and his wife, Gay, became the licensees of the Magna Charta in Lowdham in October 1958 until 1962. Aferwhich, he came an insurange agent. A failed venture that should have resulted in the Tommy Lawton Sports Good brand failed to last, instead, Lawton worked for Vernon's Pools in the Nottingham area until he returned to football. After he hit the hardest of the times, he was offered the job as director of his own company, Tommy Lawton Furniture Ltd, and after fruitful beginnings, again ended up in liquidation. - Tom Lawton's biography
Tommy Lawton - Career Statistics
Parties Apps comp. apps Mins. Goals goals ave.min comp. goals Pens Capt. Disc.
23 24 9 2070 23 90½ min 8 2 none none
minutes are an approximation, due to the fact that many matches rarely stick to exactly ninety minutes long, allowing time for injuries and errors.
Tommy Lawton - Match Record - All Matches
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts % W/L
Home 9 7 2 0 35 7 +28 0 5 3.889 0.778 88.9 +7
Away 14 9 2 3 41 14 +27 2 7 2.929 1.00 71.4 +6
All 23 16 4 3 76 21 +55 2 12 3.304 0.913 78.3 +13
Tommy Lawton - Match Record - By Type of Match
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
British Championship 9 6 2 1 29 10 +19 0 4 3.222 1.111 77.8 +5
Friendly 14 10 2 2 47 11 +36 2 18 3.357 0.786 78.6 +8
Tommy Lawton - Match Record - Tournament Matches
British Championship Competition
BC 1938-39 3 2 0 1 11 5 +6 0 1 3.667 1.667 66.7 +1
BC 1946-47 3 2 1 0 11 3 +8 0 1 3.667 1.00 83.3 +2
BC 1947-48 3 2 1 0 7 2 +5 0 2 2.333 0.667 83.3 +2
BC All 9 6 2 1 29 10 +19 0 4 3.222 1.111 77.8 +5
All Competition
BC 9 6 2 1 29 10 +19 0 4 3.222 1.111 77.8 +5
All 9 6 2 1 29 10 +19 0 4 3.222 1.111 77.8 +5
Club: Everton F.C. - eight full appearances (720 min), six goals
F.A. International Select Committee - eight full appearances (720 min), six goalsx
1 219 22 October 1938 Wales 4 England 2, Ninian Park, Cardiff BC AL Start 27 9
2 220 26 October 1938 - England 3 Rest of Europe 0, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury Fr HW Start 28 9
3 221 9 November 1938 - England 4 Norway 0, St. James' Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Fr HW Start 36 9
4 222 16 November 1938 - England 7 Ireland 0, Old Trafford, Manchester BC HW Start 6 9
5 223 15 April 1939 - Scotland 1 England 2, Hampden Park, Glasgow BC AW Start 88 9
6 224 13 May 1939 - Italy 2 England 2, Stadio Civico San Siro, Milano tour AD Start 19 9
7 225 18 May 1939 - Yugoslavia 2 England 1, Stadion Beogradski SK, Beograd AL Start 9
8 226 24 May 1939 - Romania 0 England 2, Stadionul ANEF, Bucureşti AW Start 9
Club: Chelsea F.C. - 11 full appearances (990 min), 13 goals
manager: Walter Winterbottom - 15 full appearances (1350 min), 15 goalsx
9 227 28 September 1946 - Ireland 2 England 7, Windsor Park, Belfast BC AW Start 80 9
10 228 30 September 1946 - Ireland (Éire) 0 England 1, Dalymount Park, Dublin Fr AW Start 9
11 229 13 November 1946 - England 3 Wales 0, Maine Road, Manchester BC HW Start 39 9
12 230 27 November 1946 - England 8 Netherlands 2, Leeds Road, Huddersfield Fr HW Start
24,28,35,78 9
13 231 12 April 1947 - England 1 Scotland 1, Empire Stadium, Wembley BC HD Start 9
14 232 3 May 1947 - England 3 France 0, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury Fr HW Start 9
15 233 18 May 1947 - Switzerland 1 England 0, Hardturm Stadion, Zürich tour AL Start 9
b 21 May 1947 - Switzerland 0 England 0, Genève AD unused sub
16 234 25 May 1947 - Portugal 0 England 10, Estádio Nacional, Lisboa AW Start
17s,11,38,61 9
17 235 21 September 1947 - Belgium 2 England 5, Stade du Heysel, Bruxelles Fr AW Start 12s, 63 9
18 236 18 October 1947 - Wales 0 England 3, Ninian Park, Cardiff BC AW Start 25 9
19 237 5 November 1947 - England 2 Ireland 2, Goodison Park, Liverpool HD Start 87 9
Club: Notts County F.C. - four full appearances (360 min), two goals
20 238 19 November 1947 - England 4 Sweden 2, Arsenal Stadium, Highbury Fr HW Start 18 9
21 239 10 April 1948 - Scotland 0 England 2, Hampden Park, Glasgow BC AW Start 9
22 240 16 May 1948 - Italy 0 England 4, Stadio Comunale di Torino, Torino tour AW Start 23 9
b 19 May 1948 - Switzerland 1 England 5, Stadio Comunale, Bellinzona AW injured
unused sub
u/o b 22 May 1948 - FC Schaffhausen 0 England 6, Schaffhausen AW
23 241 26 September 1948 - Denmark 0 England 0, Idrætsparken, København Fr AD Start 9