Thomas Burrows (born 1886) 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 a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Merthyr Town Merthyr Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Merthyr) is a Welsh semi-professional association football, football club based in Merthyr Tydfil, currently playing in the , in the seventh tier of the English football league system. The ...

in the years prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Football career

Burrows was born in

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 was employed at Stevens'

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

before embarking on a career as a professional footballer. He joined Southern League champions

in 1904 as third-choice goalkeeper behind

George Clawley George Clawley (10 April 1875 – 16 July 1920) was an English professional goalkeeper who played for Stoke, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the goalkeeper for the Spurs side that ...

and Michael Byrne. After spending most of the season playing for the second team in the Western League, Burrows made his debut for the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

in the last match of the 1904–05 season, a 1–0 defeat by

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 ...

on 29 April 1905. A tall, able goalkeeper, Burrows retained his place for the first three months of the following season before injury allowed Clawley to reclaim the No. 1 shirt, which he kept until his retirement in the summer of 1907. As a result of a serious injury sustained in October 1906, Burrows was unable to step-up on Clawley's retirement, and had to be content to act as cover for new signing

Herbert Lock Herbert Lock (21 January 1887 – 16 March 1957) was an English professional goalkeeper who played for Southampton and Rangers in the early part of the twentieth century. Playing career Southampton Born in Southampton he played his early footb ...

. Following an injury to Lock (sustained at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Cassio Road Cassio Road, also known as the West Herts Sport Ground, is a sports ground in Watford in England. It was the home ground of Watford F.C. between 1898 and 1922. History In the early twentieth century, Cassio Road was used for athletics, cricket ...

ground), Burrows took over in March 1908 for the rest of the season, but Lock was again preferred for the start of the 1908–09 season. Lock was once again injured at Cassio Road in March 1909, allowing Burrows to take over the custodian's shirt. This was the start of a run of 48 consecutive appearances in goal for Burrows, but an indifferent start to the 1910–11 season allowed

Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ak ...

the opportunity to replace him. Burrows was once again recalled in April 1911 for the last month of the season, before moving on in the summer. He then joined another Southern League club,

, where he remained as virtually an ever-present until the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Tom 1886 births Year of death missing Footballers from Portsmouth English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Southern Football League players Southampton F.C. players Merthyr Town F.C. players