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Tom Adey

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Thomas William Adey (22 February 1901 – 31 January 1986) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Hull City, Swindon Town, Northampton Town and Durham City in the 1920s. He also spent time on the books of Bristol City without playing for the first team, and played non-League football for Hetton Celtic, Bedlington United, Wombwell, Newark Town, Mansfield Town, Hetton United and Crook Town. He played mainly at centre half or left half, but in his later career was sometimes used at inside left.

Tom Adey
Personal information
Full name Thomas William Adey
Date of birth (1901-02-22)22 February 1901[1]
Place of birth Easington Lane,[2] England
Date of death 31 January 1986(1986-01-31) (aged 84)[1]
Place of death Hull,[1] England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3]
Position(s) Half back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1921 Hetton Celtic
1921–1922 Bristol City 0 (0)
1922 Hetton Celtic
1922–1923 Bedlington United
1923–1925 Hull City 16 (0)
1925–1926 Swindon Town 25 (0)
1926–1927 Northampton Town 10 (0)
1927–1928 Durham City 32 (6)
1928–1929 Wombwell
1929–1930 Newark Town
1930–193? Mansfield Town
193?–1931 Newark Town
1931–193? Hetton United
Crook Town
Total 83 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

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Adey was born in Easington Lane, Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, the eldest son of Thomas Adey, a railway engine fireman, and his wife, Mary.[2] He played local football for Hetton Celtic and representative football for the Durham County side. Although a trial with Sunderland came to nothing, in late 1921 he turned out for Bristol City's reserve team and, despite the local paper's opinion that he and another trialist "may develop into useful players, but neither were sufficiently experienced for Southern League football",[4] succeeded in earning himself a contract with the Second Division club.[5] He never appeared for the first team, and was back with Hetton by the end of the season.[6] He spent the following season with Bedlington United of the North-Eastern League. By February 1923, the Blyth News suggested that offers had been made for his services, and that there was "no doubt that Adey has few, if any, superiors in the position in the N.E.L."[7] On Easter Monday, he was "outstanding" as Bedlington beat hot favourites Blyth Spartans 5–0 to win the Northumberland Senior Cup on their first appearance in the final.[8] Having done his duty by his club on the field, he contributed off the field as well by signing for Second Division Hull City for an "excellent" transfer fee.[9]

Adey began his Hull City career with the reserves in the Midland League. The Hull Daily Mail were pleased with his early performances, which reminded them in style of the club's former centre half, Charlie Deacey, only with more pace.[10] He made his Football League debut in the opening match of the season, on 26 August 1923 at home to Leicester City, and reportedly performed well in difficult circumstances after the loss of the experienced left half Tommy Bleakley to injury.[11] He was ever-present for the first three months of the season, but with Hull sitting 20th in the table, the manager made changes that included Bleakley's return in Adey's place.[12] He did not play again for the first team that season, but his services were retained for 1924–25 and he was a member of the touring party that visited Sweden in post-season.[13] He made no first-team appearances in the new season, found time in November to marry a local girl, Kathleen Middleton,[14] and was transfer-listed at a fee of £50.[15] An offer from Second Division Southampton of an unnamed forward in exchange for Adey was rejected,[16] and in early August, he signed for Swindon Town of the Third Division South.[15] Shortly afterwards, he received a telegram offering him terms from Darlington, a club from his home area newly promoted to the Second Division as Northern Section champions; according to the Hull Daily Mail, he "regard[ed] it as probably all for the best" that he had already found employment.[17]

Adey played regularly for Swindon, occupying the left-half position, and helped the team finish sixth in the table and reach the second round of the 1925–26 FA Cup. His last appearance was in a 2–1 defeat at home to Northampton Town on 3 April 1926.[18] Swindon offered him terms for another season, but he advertised for a move,[19] and signed for Northampton Town to fill a vacancy at centre half.[20] He only made 11 appearances in all competitions – more often at left half, a position in which he "proved a great attacking force and a more stubborn defender than he had done in the centre"[21] – and was made available on a free transfer. He again advertised for a club, mentioning that he would accept work at Midland or North-Eastern League level,[22] and then returned home to join Durham City for what proved to be their last season in the Football League. He was mainly used at left half, but played at inside left for a spell in mid-season during which he scored both goals in a 2–1 win against Barrow and a "delightful" goal in a heavy defeat at home to Rotherham United combined with a bad miss from close range and a general performance that showed the Sheffield Sports Special that he was "not a success at the inside forward position, otherwise a different score would have been recorded".[23] He finished the season with six goals from 32 league matches, which him the team's second highest scorer after Tom Leedham with nine. He left at the end of the season after Durham finished 21st in the 22-team table and failed to be re-elected to the League.[1][24]

He then spent several years in Midland League football, first as player-coach of a young Wombwell side;[25][26] while primarily used at centre half, he again appeared as a forward, and scored "four brilliant goals" as Wombwell beat Rotherham United Reserves 7–0.[27] He finished the 1928–29 season with Newark Town,[28] and remained with them until the end of the next, after which he spent time with Mansfield Town before returning to Newark by February 1931.[29][30] In September 1931, having found work in his native Hetton, Adey took up the post of player-coach of Wearside League club Hetton United,[31] and he also played for Crook Town.[32]

The 1939 Register finds Adey and Kathleen keeping a pub in Hull.[33] He died in Hull in 1986 at the age of 84.[1]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[32]
Club Season League FA Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hull City 1922–23 Second Division 0 0 — 0 0
1923–24 Second Division 16 0 0 0 16 0
1924–25 Second Division 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 16 0 0 0 16 0
Swindon Town 1925–26 Third Division South 25 0 4 0 29 0
Northampton Town 1926–27 Third Division South 10 0 1 0 11 0
Durham City 1927–28 Third Division North 32 6 2 0 34 6
Career total 83 6 7 6 90 6

References

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General

  • Dykes, Garth (2010). Durham City FC in the Football League. Nottingham: SoccerData. ISBN 978-1-905891-42-9.

Specific

  1. ^ a b c d e Dykes (2010), p. 11.
  2. ^ a b "Thomas W Adey". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901. RG13/4696 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  3. ^ "Preparing for football season". Daily Mail. Hull. 11 August 1923. p. 3.
  4. ^ "Saturday's football". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 21 November 1921. p. 7.
  5. ^ "New half for the City". Western Daily Press. Bristol. 17 December 1921. p. 4.
  6. ^ "Seaham Charity Cup. Final tie". Sunderland Daily Echo. 28 April 1922. p. 9.
  7. ^ "Bedlington win". Blyth News. 26 February 1923. p. 3.
  8. ^ "Northumberland Cup. Bedlington's great win over Blyth". Blyth News. 3 April 1923. p. 3.
  9. ^ "Week-end sport". Blyth News. 5 April 1923. p. 3.
  10. ^ "City reserves win again". Daily Mail. Hull. 23 April 1923. p. 3.
  11. ^ Mac (27 August 1923). "Tigers with ten men hold Leicester City". Daily Mail. Hull. p. 2.
  12. ^ "Surprising Hull City changes". Daily Mail. Hull. 6 December 1923. p. 2.
  13. ^ Veritas (12 May 1924). "Tigers' tour. The matches to be played in Sweden". Daily Mail. Hull. p. 2.
  14. ^ "Marriages. Adey–Middleton". Daily Mail. Hull. 18 November 1924. p. 8.
  15. ^ a b "Sporting items". Derby Daily Telegraph. 8 August 1925. p. 4.
  16. ^ Veritas (23 May 1925). "Football talks". Daily Mail. Hull. p. 4.
  17. ^ "Adey's two offers. Darlington invitation comes too late". Daily Mail. Hull. 8 August 1925. p. 3.
  18. ^ "Playing Record: Tom Adey". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Situations wanted". Athletic News. Manchester. 31 May 1926. p. 15.
  20. ^ "Cobblers' new player. Adey, from Swindon, to play at centre-half". Daily Echo. Northampton. 19 June 1926. p. 4.
  21. ^ "Norwich nine put up a plucky fight against the Cobblers". Daily Echo. Northampton. 7 September 1926. p. 3.
  22. ^ "Situations wanted". Athletic News. Manchester. 8 August 1927. p. 19.
  23. ^ "Rotherham reflections". Sports Special. Sheffield. 18 February 1928. p. 8.
  24. ^ Dykes (2010), p. 78.
  25. ^ "Wombwell's capture". Sheffield Independent. 23 August 1928. p. 10.
  26. ^ "Football nuggets". Barnsley Independent. 1 September 1928. p. 2.
  27. ^ "Midland League. Wombwell forward's great goalscoring". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. 17 December 1928. p. 8.
  28. ^ "Reduced wage bill, Newark finances receiving close attention". Sheffield Independent. 17 August 1929. p. 12.
  29. ^ "Staveley Town 3 Mansfield T. Res. 4". Nottingham Journal. 10 November 1930. p. 8.
  30. ^ "Teams: Newark Town v. Barnsley Res". Nottingham Journal. 21 February 1931. p. 10.
  31. ^ "Hetton United's captures". Sunderland Echo. 22 September 1931. p. 9.
  32. ^ a b "Adey, TW (Tom)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  33. ^ "Thomas W Adey". 1939 England and Wales Register – via Ancestry Library Edition.
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