Thomas Midgley (1856 - 1957) 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 in

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

football, as an inside forward, for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

. Born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, Midgley became a teacher and worked in Culham, Oxford and Ripon before being appointed as head at Grant's School, Burnley in the late 1870s. As early as 1880 at Carlton Road School he had children playing Association Football. Midgley was a founder member of the Burnley Rovers Rugby club and its first captain. Midgley encouraged Burnley Rovers to change codes to association football in May 1882 and changed their name to

. He represented the club in many of the early friendly matches, but by the time

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 ...

was formed in 1888, Midgley was nearing the end of his career as a footballer. Midgley was proud to be involved in the early days of League Football. He made his League debut, playing as an inside–forward on 20 October 1888 at Victoria Ground the then home of

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

. The visitors lost 4–3. That was Midgeley's only appearance in season 1888–89 and he was not retained at the end of the season. However at least his only League appearance he played in a forward line that scored three. Also Midgeley's appearance was historic as he was approximately (his birthdate in 1856 is unknown) 34 years and 112 days old. Therefore, on the seventh weekend of League football not only did Thomas Midgeley supplant Dannie Friel as Burnley's oldest League player but Midgeley also replaced

Joe Beverley Joseph Beverley (12 November 1856 – 21 May 1897) was an FA Cup-winning English footballer who played for Blackburn Olympic and Blackburn Rovers, as well as the England national side. Career Club Beverley started out with James Street and ...

of Blackburn Rovers as the League's oldest player. Midgley carried on teaching until he retired in 1921. Five years after retiring he moved to Wales. (registration & fee required)

References

1856 births 1957 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Burnley F.C. players English Football League players English centenarians British men centenarians {{England-footy-forward-1850s-stub