Irvine Thornley (11 October 1883 – 24 April 1955) 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 as a centre-forward. After playing for local amateur clubs, he made his professional debut for

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

in 1901. He moved to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in 1904, becoming a prolific goalscorer for the club and winning a single cap for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1907.

Early life

Thornley was born in

Whitfield, Derbyshire Whitfield is a hamlet and former parish in Derbyshire, England. It is half a mile (1km) south of Glossop Town Hall, south of Glossop Brook between Bray Clough and Hurst Brook. Whitfield was one of the original townships in the ancient Parish of ...

, the second of four children to Thomas Thornley and Henrietta Thornley (née Cooper). His father worked as a butcher and his mother was a cotton weaver. His brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

would also become a footballer. As a teenager, he worked as a tripe dresser.

Career

Thornley began his football career playing for local amateur clubs Glossop Villa and Glossop St. James before joining

in 1901. In April 1904, he joined First Division side

along with Frank Norgrove. Soon after the

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

carried out an investigation into the transfer practices of the club and manager

Tom Maley Thomas Edward Maley (8 November 1864 – 24 August 1935) was a Scottish football player and manager. Born in Portsmouth to a soldier from County Clare, Maley spent his entire playing career in Scotland, with Partick Thistle, Dundee Harp, Hibe ...

regarding making additional payments to players to avoid the maximum wage at the time. The investigation led to Maley receiving a life ban from the game and seventeen players were either fined or suspended. With a new squad hastily assembled, City met

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

soon after in a match played during a heatwave. With temperatures soaring, Thornley collapsed thirty minutes into the match and was described as "prostrate and very ill". City went on to lose four other players during the match due to the extreme heat, finishing the match with only six players. In his second season at the club, he scored 21 league goals in the First Division to finish as the club's top goalscorer, a feat which he achieved in three consecutive seasons afterwards. He received his first call-up for the England team in 1907, being named as a reserve player for a match against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 16 February 1907 before making his debut against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

the following month. He also made two appearances for 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 ...

representative side. City were relegated in 1909 but won promotion from the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

at the first attempt by finishing the 1909–10 season as champions. In 1912, he was awarded a benefit match by the club that raised £1,036, a record at the time for a player benefit match, before joining

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

. He spent three seasons with South Shields playing in the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

, scoring 154 goals in 130 matches for the club including 70 in one season. Following the outbreak of World War I, Thornley joined the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

at the age of 32 and served as a gunner until he was transferred to the

army reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

in April 1917. He was

discharged Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

from the army in December 1918. His brother John, who played for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

as an amateur, was killed during the war after succumbing to wounds he suffered during the Battle of St. Quentin during

Operation Michael Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

. When competitive football resumed after the war, Thornley played for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

and Houghton before retiring.

Honours

Manchester City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1909–10 Hamilton Academical *

Lanarkshire Cup The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. List of winners 1879–80 - Stonelaw 1880–81 - Thistle 1881–82 - Hamilton Academical 1882–83 - West Benhar 1883� ...

: 1919–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornley, Irvine 1883 births 1955 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Manchester City F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Gateshead A.F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Glossop North End A.F.C. players Men's association football forwards British Army personnel of World War I Royal Field Artillery soldiers Clydebank F.C. (1914) players Scottish Football League players Newcastle United F.C. wartime guest players Footballers from Derbyshire