Maurice Roy Tadman (28 June 1921 – 26 November 1994) was an English

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 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He began his career in

non-league football 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 ...

with Bexleyheath & Welling before playing alongside his older brother

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. His progress was halted by 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 ...

, but he returned to the club when hostilities had ceased. Despite being a prolific goalscorer for the club's reserve team, he was unable to force his way into the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

and was transferred to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

for £4,000 in August 1947. He soon established himself as the club's first choice striker and finished as top goalscorer in five of his first seven seasons at Home Park. He left the club in 1955, having joined an elite group of players to have scored more than 100 goals, to finish his career in Northern Ireland as player-manager of Belfast Distillery.

Playing career

Tadman began his career with local team Bexleyheath & Welling, before joining his older brother, George, at

. His progress there was halted due to the outbreak of the

. He resumed his career after hostilities had ended, making three appearances for Charlton before joining

in the summer of 1947. He would spend the next eight years with the club, playing alongside other Argyle greats like Jack Chisholm,

George Dews George Dews (5 June 1921 – 29 January 2003) was an English first-class cricketer and footballer. As a cricketer, he was a right-handed batsman who played for Worcestershire between 1946 and 1961. He was also an excellent fielder: his 353 catche ...

Neil Dougall Cornelius Dougall (7 November 1921 – 1 December 2009) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside right or wing half. He played more than 350 games in the Football League for Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle, and won on ...

Alex Govan Alexander Govan (16 June 1929 – 10 June 2016) was a Scottish professional footballer who played at outside left. Most of his career was spent with Plymouth Argyle (in two spells) and with Birmingham City during their most successful peri ...

, and

Bill Shortt Bill Shortt (13 October 1920 – 20 September 2004) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was born in Wrexham and was capped 12 times by Wales. Playing career Shortt joined Chester on amateur terms in 1938 after bei ...

. His one major honour with the club came in 1952 when the Pilgrims won the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

title and promotion back to 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 ...

. He made 253 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 112 goals, before moving to Northern Ireland in July 1955.

Managerial career

Tadman joined Belfast Distillery as player-manager in July 1955. He would continue playing for another two years before retiring in order to concentrate on management.Distillery: Team of the 1950s
/ref> He won the Ulster Cup with the club in 1958 before leaving later that year in December.

Honours

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

* Winner (1): 1951–52 Ulster Cup * Winner (1): 1957–58

References

External links

Greens on Screen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tadman, Maurice English footballers Association football forwards Charlton Athletic F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Lisburn Distillery F.C. managers People from Rainham, Kent 1921 births 1984 deaths English Football League players Watford F.C. wartime guest players Brentford F.C. wartime guest players English football managers