Thomas Gerard Nolan (13 June 1909 – 1969) 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 ...

, noted for his powerful cannonball shots. He was

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

's most prolific

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

of the 1930s.

Career

Nolan played for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and Manchester Central, before joining

in October 1931. He hit 11 goals in 21 games to become the club's top-scorer, helping the "Valiants" to remain in the Second Division on goal average. Nolan then scored eight goals in 17 appearances in 1932–33, including a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

The Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditio ...

on 29 April. In the 1933–34 season he scored 22 goals in 32 appearances, including hat-tricks in home wins over

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, Hull City, and Nottingham Forest. He was the club's top-scorer for a second successive season in 1934–35, hitting 16 goals in 40 games. However, he was transferred to

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

in July 1935. He hit 17 goals in 42 league appearances at Park Avenue, before he returned to Port Vale in a trade for

George Stabb George Herbert Stabb (26 September 1912 – 11 December 1994) was an English footballer who played for Torquay United, Notts County, Port Vale, and Bradford Park Avenue in the 1930s. Career Stabb played for Dartmouth United and Paignton Town ...

in September 1936. The "Valiants" had been relegated to the

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 ...

in his absence. He hit 12 goals in 41 appearances in 1936–37, including a hat-trick over eventual league champions Stockport County. He was dropped at the start of the 1937–38 campaign in favour of Jack Roberts, though he still managed to hit the net seven times in his 20 appearances. He hit 17 goals in 41 games in 1938–39 to become the club's top-scorer for a fourth time. In February 1940, Nolan retired from the game due to his war duties. In his two spells with Port Vale he scored 96 goals in 221 appearances, over all competitions.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Tom 1909 births 1969 deaths Footballers from Preston, Lancashire Military personnel from Preston, Lancashire English footballers Association football forwards Preston North End F.C. players Manchester Central F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players English Football League players British military personnel of World War II