Albert Henry Tomkin (23 December 1915 – 3 September 1989) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played for

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "For ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and

Northfleet United Northfleet United Football Club was a football club based in Northfleet, Kent. Around 1890 organised team football was being played in the town and in 1892 the Northfleet F.C. club was founded. It flourished for a few years in the mid-1890s u ...

, and wartime matches for

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Football career

Tomkin began his career at

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club Formby. He signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 1937 but moved to the club's "nursery" team Northfleet United before making a first team appearance. The outside left signed professional forms for Tottenham in December 1937 and was a regular in the 'A' team, graduating to the reserves the following season. He made his breakthrough later the same term with a debut for the first team on 4 February 1939 in a 2–1 home win against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

.Albert Tomkin - fact file
Retrieved 20 January 2014 It was the first of two league matches he played for Spurs.
Retrieved 30 November 2012 When the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out in September 1939, the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

was suspended. Tomkin played one further game for Tottenham before returning to his home town of

and enlisting for military service. Whilst there in 1940 he played nine games for

. With the

Wartime League The Wartime League was a football league competition held in England during World War II, which replaced the suspended Football League. The exclusion of the FA Cup in these years saw the creation of the Football League War Cup and it was a friendly ...

established, Tomkin enrolled as a guest player for competitors

and Swansea Town, as well as

. He died in

Leyland, Lancashire Leyland () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, six miles (10 km) south of Preston. The population was 35,578 at the 2011 Census. The name of the town is Anglo-Saxon, meaning "untilled land". History English Leyland was an a ...

on 3 September 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomkin, Albert 1915 births 1989 deaths Footballers from Barrow-in-Furness Association football outside forwards English footballers Formby F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Northfleet United F.C. players Southport F.C. players English Football League players Cardiff City F.C. wartime guest players Swansea Town A.F.C. wartime guest players Luton Town F.C. wartime guest players Footballers from Cumbria