Thomas Henry Bradshaw (24 August 1873 – 25 December 1899) was an English international

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 in the

outside-left Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

and

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 ...

positions for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

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 Thames Ironworks during the late 19th century.

Life and playing career

Bradshaw was born in

and was signed for Liverpool from

in October 1893 by manager

John McKenna John McKenna ( ga, Seán Mac Cionnaoith; 3 January 1855 – 22 March 1936) was an Irish businessman, professional rugby player, and the first manager of the Liverpool Football Club which has since gone on to become one of the most successful ...

. Originally playing as a centre-forward, Bradshaw made his debut against Woolwich Arsenal, in a

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 ...

game, scoring the last goal in a 5–0 victory. He went on to score seven in the remaining fourteen matches of the 1893–94 season, helping Liverpool to the Second Division title and promotion to the top tier of English football, after a Test Match victory over

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

. During the following season Bradshaw was the only ever-present and scored seventeen times, in a Liverpool team that struggled and were eventually relegated back down to Division 2. Liverpool again topped the Second Division at the end of the 1895–96 season with Bradshaw scoring twelve goals from his new position on the left-wing, his versatility giving Liverpool an extra dimension to their attack. Bradshaw gained one

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 ...

cap when he played 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 20 February 1897 and holds the distinction of being Liverpool's first ever player to achieve international recognition. Bradshaw left Liverpool in May 1898, returning briefly to Northwich Victoria before joining

. His brief stay at Northumberland Road was marked with a little piece of history when his goal in an FA Cup tie in 1899 helped Spurs become the first lower division club ever to come from behind to beat top-flight opposition in the shape of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

.Giant Killers 1899
/ref> Bradshaw then made the journey from

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

to east London that summer, joining Thames Ironworks, the team that would later become

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He was immediately appointed as the club's captain. During a Southern League match on 7 October 1899, Bradshaw sustained an injury from a kick to the head in The Irons 1–0 win over Bedminster that would begin a series of events that would see the condition of his health deteriorate. He still managed to make a strong contribution, scoring a goal in The Irons biggest win of the season, 7–0 away to

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

. Bradshaw played his last Southern League game ever, in a 0–0 home draw against New Brompton on 11 November. Only a week later, The Irons had to play New Brompton again, this time in the FA Cup, and a 0–0 draw was followed by 2–0 replay win, setting up a next round tie against Thames Ironworks' arch-rivals

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. The clearly ailing Bradshaw was rested for the next two games, in preparation for the tie against Millwall, which was to follow sixteen days later. In the game on 9 December, Bradshaw made his comeback, scoring the only goal in a 2–1 defeat. This would be his last ever game. Bradshaw finally succumbed to his lengthy illness on Christmas Day 1899. His cause of death was recorded as

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

. Bradshaw's death was remembered by Thames Ironworks player and future West Ham manager

Syd King Ernest Sydney "Syd" King (1 August 1873 – 14 February 1933) was a footballer and manager, and one of the most important figures in the early history of West Ham United. Playing career Born Chatham, Kent and educated at Watford Grammar School ...

, in his brief history of the club: :''"The record of 1899–1900, however, would not be complete without some reference to poor Tom Bradshaw, who came from Spurs with Joyce. How well I remember that match with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

during the Christmas holidays, when Joyce brought over the sad message to the

Memorial Grounds Memorial Grounds was the home stadium of East London football club Thames Ironworks from the beginning of the 1897–98 season, until the end of the 1899–1900 season. The team continued to play at the stadium, under its new name of West Ham ...

that our comrade had passed away. Poor Tom was one of the cleverest wing forwards I have ever known and he was immensely popular with everybody." – Syd King, 'Book of Football' (1906)'' Bradshaw's close friends

Bill Joyce William Joyce (born 8 April 1877) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-forward in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers and Burton United. He played in Thames Ironworks' final season before reforming as West Ham United, and als ...

and Kenny McKay left for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

respectively.

Honours

Liverpool *

Football League Division Two 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 ...

winner: 1893–94, 1895–96

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Thomas Bradshaw profile at lfchistory.net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Harry 1873 births 1899 deaths English footballers England international footballers Northwich Victoria F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Southern Football League players Footballers from Liverpool Thames Ironworks F.C. players 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Association football forwards Tuberculosis deaths in England