Thomas Henry Barlow (born 1875) was an English

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 around the turn of the 20th century, spending most of his career with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Football career

Barlow was born in Bolton and after playing for Halliwell Rovers of the Lancashire League, he joined

in May 1898. He was soon established at the

inside-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 ...

position, playing sixteen matches, with five goals, but was unable to prevent Bolton being relegated to the Second Division at the end of the season. In the following season, he made only fourteen League appearances, with newly signed

Jack Picken John Barclay Picken (1880 – 31 July 1952) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside forward for several clubs in The Football League, including Bolton Wanderers, Manchester United, Burnley and Bristol City, as well as Plymouth Argyle in ...

being preferred by secretary/manager Frank Brettell. At the end of the season, Bolton regained their place in the First Division as runners-up to The Wednesday. Back in the top flight, Picken was moved to inside-right and Barlow once again became settled in the No. 10 shirt, scoring 10 goals from 28 appearances in the 1901–02 season. He remained at Bolton until the summer of 1902, when he moved to the

south coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

to join Southampton of the Southern League. At the "Saints", he was considered to be "''a capture''" and was described in the local press as "''a player who combines good ball control and distribution with legitimate trickery''". He made his debut in the opening match of the 1902–03 season, scoring twice in a 6–0 victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

(with three goals from Jack Fraser). His performances at The Dell soon impressed the England selectors and he was chosen to represent "The South" in a trial match against "The North" played at White Hart Lane, although he was not selected for the national side. By early 1903, Barlow was beginning to feel "homesick" and following the return of Fred Harrison from injury in January he lost his place in the side, making only two further appearances at left-half. At the end of the season, when Saints won the Southern League title for the fifth time in seven years, Barlow was granted a transfer back to Burnden Park. Barlow only made five league appearances in the 1903–04 season, with Wattie White now established at inside-left, and in the summer of 1904 he returned to the Southern League to join Millwall Athletic. In his two spells with Bolton, he made 90 appearances in League and Cup matches, scoring 25 goals. He remained at Millwall for one season before returning to Lancashire to join

Atherton Church House Atherton F.C. was an English football club located in Atherton, in Lancashire. The club spent most of its history in the Lancashire Combination. History The club, then known as Atherton Church House, joined the Lancashire Combination as founde ...

of the Lancashire Combination before finishing his career at Oldham Athletic, playing their final season in the Lancashire Combination, at the end of which they were champions and elected to the Football League.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlow, Tom 1875 births Year of death missing Footballers from Bolton English footballers Association football inside forwards Halliwell Rovers F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Atherton F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players