Thomas Bartley (1874 – 24 December 1951) was a Welsh

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 an inside forward for various clubs in the 1890s and 1900s and made one appearance for

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 ...

Football career

Bartley was born in

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

in North Wales and played for his local club in the North Wales Coast League as well as reaching the first final of the Welsh Amateur Cup in 1891. At

, he gained a reputation for his goal-scoring, although he did "tend towards rough play". His older brother, Arthur, played as goalkeeper for Flint and died from injuries sustained during a match in August 1891, thus becoming the first known fatality in modern Welsh football. In 1896, he moved to England spending a year at Port Sunlight in the Wirral & District League before he was signed for Glossop North End. Described as "good in the air and possessing a rasping shot", Bartley "infused bite and determination into the (Glossop) forward line". Glossop NE were backed by

Samuel Hill-Wood Sir Samuel Hill Hill-Wood, 1st Baronet (21 March 1872 – 4 January 1949) was a British businessman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, cricketer and association football, football club chairman. Early life Wood was born in Gl ...

with ambitions of reaching the

English 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 Engl ...

. Having finished as runners-up in the Midland League in the 1896–97 season, they could only manage to finish ninth in Bartley's first season. Despite this, they were invited to join an expanded

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 ...

, finishing as runners-up in 1898–99. Bartley played in Glossop's opening match in the Football League in September 1898 against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. During his one season in the Football League, Bartley made seven appearances, scoring twice. He didn't play in the First Division and in the summer of 1899 returned to North Wales to spend a year at

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

. Bartley's solitary international appearance came in March 1898, when he replaced Thomas Thomas for the

Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

match against

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 ...

; the match finished 3–0 in favour of England. In 1901, he returned to

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

where he settled at

Newton-le-Willows Newton-le-Willows is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2011 census was 22,114. Newton-le-Willows is on the eastern edge of St Helens, south of Wigan and north of Warrington. The ...

for the rest of his life. He joined Earlestown, where he became known for his "splendid ball control" and heading ability. In particular, he was renowned for his ability to place a corner kick under the

crossbar Crossbar may refer to: Structures * Latch (hardware), a post barring a door * Top tube of a bicycle frame * Crossbar, the horizontal member of various sports goals * Crossbar, a horizontal member of an electricity pylon Other * In electronic ...

, providing scoring opportunities for his fellow forwards. Described as "a great utility player", he was able to take over from an injured player anywhere on the pitch.

Later career

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Bartley enlisted in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He later worked as a wood machinist in a railway wagon works. He remained associated with the Earlestown club for the rest of his life, spending some time on the club committee. He died on 24 December 1951, aged 77.

Honours

;

*Welsh Amateur Cup finalists: 1891 ; Glossop North End *

runners-up: 1898–99

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartley, Thomas 1874 births People from Flint, Flintshire Footballers from Flintshire 1951 deaths Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Flint Town United F.C. players Glossop North End A.F.C. players Llandudno F.C. players Wales men's international footballers Royal Welch Fusiliers soldiers British Army personnel of World War I English Football League players Military personnel from Flintshire