Thomas Curley (born 11 June 1945) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who played as an outside right. As a footballer, he made over 90 appearances in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra and Brentford and as a politician he was a member of the Scottish Labour Party for 30 years, before spending his final year in office (2016 to 2017) as an independent councillor outside the party.[2][3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Curley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 11 June 1945 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Outside right | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1960 | Portsmouth | ||
| 1960–1964 | Celtic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1964–1965 | Celtic | 1 | (0) |
| 1965–1967 | Brentford | 40 | (6) |
| 1967–1969 | Crewe Alexandra | 52 | (7) |
| 1969 | Hamilton Academical | 4 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Football club career
editCeltic
editAn outside right, Curley began his career in the youth system at Portsmouth in 1960, but suffered with homesickness and transferred to Celtic in his home city after just a few months.[4] He had to wait until September 1964 to make his senior debut, which came in a 4–2 defeat to Heart of Midlothian on 26 September 1964.[5] It proved to be Curley's only appearance for the Bhoys and he departed Celtic Park in September 1965.[4]
Brentford
editCurley moved to England to sign for Third Division strugglers Brentford on a one-month trial in September 1965.[3] He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Gillingham on 30 October 1965 and impressed enough during his trial to win a contract.[3][6] He failed to make a breakthrough into the first team during the 1965–66 season and made just 14 appearances as the Bees suffered relegation to the Fourth Division.[6] He improved his appearance tally in the basement and made 27 appearances during the 1966–67 season.[6] The stricken club's dire financial situation saw Curley released in 1967 as a result of cost-cutting measures.[3] He made 41 appearances and scored 6 goals during his two seasons with Brentford.[3]
Crewe Alexandra
editCurley moved to Fourth Division club Crewe Alexandra in August 1967.[1] Though he made just 19 appearances, he was part of the team which secured automatic promotion to the Third Division at the end of the 1967–68 season.[7] He broke into the team on a regular basis in the following season and made 33 appearances and scored seven goals, as Alex pushed for a second successive promotion.[7] Curley left Gresty Road in August 1969 and made 52 league appearances and scored seven goals in his two seasons with Alex.[1]
Hamilton Academical
editCurley moved back to Scotland to sign for Second Division club Hamilton Academical on 16 August 1969.[8] He made just five appearances before being released.[9]
Football chairman career
editCurley had a spell as chairman of Central Scottish Amateur League Premier Division club Bankhall Villa.[10] The club won the 1992–93 Scottish Amateur Cup under his chairmanship.[10]
Political career
editCurley was a member of the Scottish Labour Party for 30 years and until 2017,[2] was a councillor, latterly for the Airdrie South ward.[10] He held positions of Junior Whip, Deputy Provost and Provost.[10] He was provost of North Lanarkshire until May 2012.[11] He resigned from the Scottish Labour Party in October 2016 and became an independent councillor, not standing for re-election in the 2017 North Lanarkshire Council election.[2]
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 1964–65[4] | Scottish First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brentford | 1965–66[6] | Third Division | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | |
| 1966–67[6] | Fourth Division | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 4 | |
| Total | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 6 | ||
| Hamilton Academical | 1969–70[9] | Scottish Second Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Career total | 45 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 6 | ||
References
edit- ^ a b c "Tom Curley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
- ^ a b c Tonner, Judith (7 November 2016). "Airdrie South councillor resigns from Labour and plans to stand against party". dailyrecord. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. pp. 171–172. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- ^ a b c "Curley, Thomas". Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ "Celtic Player Tommy Curley Details". Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d e White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 388–389. ISBN 0951526200.
- ^ a b Crewe Alexandra F.C. at the Football Club History Database
- ^ "Player's Transfers – 1969". Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ a b "Curley Thomas (1969)". Hamilton Academical Memory Bank. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Airdrie South". Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^ "Standing down to clear my name". Retrieved 17 December 2014.