Thomas "Pip" Rippon (4 February 1888 – 29 May 1950) Access individual season statistics via Season Stats dropdown menu. 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 scored 47 goals from 154 appearances in

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 ...

playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

and Lincoln City and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. Rippon was born in Beighton, then in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, now a part of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. He played for

both before and after the First World War, making 121 appearances in

. In 1920, he joined Lincoln City, then playing in the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

. Rippon made his Lincoln debut on 28 August 1920 in a 3–1 win at home to Mexborough Town, and went on to be the club's leading scorer in the 1920–21 season with 27 goals from League and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

games as Lincoln won the Midland League title. He played regularly the following season, in the newly formed

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated In sports leagues, promotion and ...

, but was less prolific, though his ten goals still placed him second in Lincoln's scoring charts. Rippon played his last senior game for the club in May 1922, then returned to the Midland League with

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

, Wath Athletic and

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

. Rippon died in Sheffield in 1950 at the age of 62.

Personal life

Rippon's brother Willis was also a footballer and both were on the books together at Woolwich Arsenal and Grimsby Town.

Notes

A. : Lincoln City appearances and goals are for Football League matches only, not those in the Midland League.

References

1888 births People from Beighton, Sheffield Footballers from Derbyshire 1950 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Grimsby Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Wath Athletic F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players English Football League players Midland Football League players Arsenal F.C. players {{England-footy-forward-1880s-stub