Thomas Kay Adamson was a Scottish 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 ...

, best remembered for his time as a left back in the Football League with Bury and Brentford. He later had a short tenure as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

of Irish League club

Ards Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a type of respiratory failure characterized by rapid onset of widespread inflammation in the lungs. Symptoms include shortness of breath (dyspnea), rapid breathing (tachypnea), and bluish skin color ...

Playing career

Early years and Bury

A left back, Adamson began his career at Scottish junior clubs Craighead, Cambuslang Rangers, Blantyre Celtic and moved to

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 ...

to join

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 ...

club Bury in 1920. Over the course of 9 years at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, G ...

, Adamson made 286 appearances and helped the Shakers to promotion back to the First Division in the 1923–24 season.

Brentford

Adamson dropped down to 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 ...

to sign for Brentford prior to the beginning of the 1929–30 season. He immediately broke into the team and made 36 appearances during his debut season, a campaign memorable for the Bees' record-breaking 21 home wins. Adamson was a mainstay of the team for the following two seasons and made 28 appearances to help the Bees to the Third Division South title in the 1932–33 season. Age caught up to Adamson and he made just eight appearances during the 1933–34 Second Division season, before departing Griffin Park at the end of the campaign. Adamson made 153 appearances in five seasons with the Bees.

Stockport County

Adamson returned to the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

area to sign for

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 from a higher division allocated to ...

club

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

in 1934. He failed to make an appearance for the club and ended his Football League career in 1935, having failed to score in over 400 professional matches.

Managerial career

Adamson had a short spell as

of Irish League club

in 1935. Former Brentford full back partner Alexander Stevenson was one of his signings.

Personal life

While growing up, Adamson went to school with future Scottish internationals

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 624 senior games, Gallacher scored 463 goals, playing senior league football for Airdrieonians, Newcastle United, Chelsea, D ...

and Alex James.

Career statistics

Honours

Blantyre Celtic *

Lanarkshire Cup The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. List of winners 1879–80 - Stonelaw 1880–81 - Thistle 1881–82 - Hamilton Academical 1882–83 - West Benhar 1883� ...

: 1919–20 Brentford *

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 ...

: 1932–33

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Tom Scottish footballers Brentford F.C. players Bury F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players English Football League players Year of death missing Ards F.C. managers NIFL Premiership managers Blantyre Celtic F.C. players Association football fullbacks 1901 births Footballers from North Lanarkshire Scottish football managers Date of death unknown Scottish Junior Football Association players Cambuslang Rangers F.C. players