Thomas Charles Boucher (born 1873, date of death unknown) was an English professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player at the turn of the twentieth century. He made over 130 appearances in the Football League and over 60 appearances in the Southern League as a centre-forward or inside-forward in the years either side of the start of the twentieth century.

Career

Born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...

, Boucher joined

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

in 1896 from

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

and went on to score 32 goals in 79 games in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, including 22 in 1896–97, thus making him joint top-scorer in the

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 ...

with teammate John Murphy, helping Notts County claim the Second Division title and gain promotion to the First Division, after a series of play-off matches. Boucher joined Bedminster in the summer of 1899 from Notts County. Boucher made his debut in the Southern League at centre forward in the opening game of season 1899-1900 in a 2-0 win at Sheppey United on 2 September 1899. Boucher made 24 appearances scoring nine goals and finished as the season's top scorer for Bedminster who finished in 6th place. After the completion of the 1899-1900 season Bedminster FC amalgamated with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Many of the Bedminster players joined in with the amalgamation but Boucher chose to join

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

of the Southern League in the summer of 1900, scoring 10 goals in 27 league appearances in a year-long spell with them. Bristol City achieved Football League status when they were elected to the Second Division for 1901–02. Boucher rejoined

from Bristol Rovers in the summer of 1901. Boucher made his Football League debut for Bristol City in their first ever League match on 7 September 1901 as centre forward in a 2–0 win at Blackpool. Boucher made 26 appearances (out of 34 games) scoring eight goals as "The Bristol Babes" finished in sixth place. Boucher scored two goals in each of two successive home games, against Blackpool and

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 R ...

, in January 1902. When Bristol City rose to fourth place in season 1902–03, Boucher made 25 appearances scoring six goals. He also scored in the FA Cup against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. After two seasons with the "Babes", he returned to Southern League football with New Brompton, his last known club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boucher, Tom 1873 births Footballers from Liverpool Year of death missing English men's footballers English Football League players Gillingham F.C. players Bedminster F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Stourbridge F.C. players Southern Football League players Men's association football forwards