Thomas Clark Metcalf (1878 – May 1938) 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 as a half-back 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

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in the 1900s.

Football career

Metcalf was born in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011, it had a ...

and started his football career with Burton United, then playing in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

, in January 1903. He failed to break into the first team, and in March 1904 he moved to the south coast to join Southern League champions,

. Most of his time with the "Saints" was spent in the reserves who he helped win the Hampshire Senior Cup in 1905. His first-team debut came on 23 September 1905 when he took the place of

Samuel Meston Samuel Meston (16 January 1872 – 14 August 1948) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a half-back for Stoke and Southampton. Whilst with Southampton, he appeared in two FA Cup Finals and won six Southern League championship ...

at left-half, with Meston moving to the right in the absence of

Bert Lee William Herbert Lee (11 June 1880 – 23 January 1946) was an English songwriter. He wrote for music hall and the musical stage, often in partnership with R. P. Weston. Life and career Lee was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England.Richard A ...

, for the Southern League match at Northampton Town, won 2–1. With Meston and

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 ...

international Bert Houlker vying for the left-half berth, there were no further first-team opportunities for Metcalf and in the 1906

close season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

he joined

Salisbury City Salisbury City Football Club was an English football club based in Salisbury, Wiltshire. They were formed in 1947 and played at The Raymond McEnhill Stadium. Salisbury had gained back-to-back promotions in recent years, first to the Conference S ...

, who had just joined the Second Division of the Southern League. In February 1908, Metcalf returned to

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 ...

to join

for whom he played nine league matches before retiring in 1909.

Later career

Following his retirement from football, Metcalf returned to

where he was employed by the Allsopp brewery.

References

External links

Career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalf, Tom 1878 births Footballers from Burton upon Trent 1938 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Burton United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. (1905) players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players