Thomas Sowerby Rowlandson MC (22 February 1880 – 15 September 1916) was an English amateur footballer who played in 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 ...

for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

as a goalkeeper. He represented the England amateur national team.

Career

Rowlandson signed for Newcastle from Sunderland in October 1905, expecting to secure a permanent place in the team and more regular appearances. He would only make a single league appearance for Newcastle in October 1905, where they beat Nottingham Forest 3–2.

Personal life

Rowlandson attended

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and Trinity College was a Cambridge University blue. After the breakout of the First World War in August 1914, he gave over his farmhouse for use as a hospital supply depot. Rowlandson subsequently enlisted in the British Army in Northallerton and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Yorkshire Regiment on 5 September 1914. By 17 April 1915, he was on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, fighting in the Second Battle of Ypres. By 1 January 1916, he had been promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and won the Military Cross. Rowlandson was killed after being hit in the shoulder by a German

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

on 15 September 1916, during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette. He was buried at

Bécourt Military Cemetery The Bécourt Military Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Somme region of France commemorating British and Commonwealth soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme in World War I. The cemetery contains those who died in a variety of dates ...

Career statistics

Honours

Corinthian * Sheriff of London Charity Shield: 1904

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowlandson, Tom 1880 births 1916 deaths Footballers from North Yorkshire English men's footballers English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Cambridge University A.F.C. players Corinthian F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from North Yorkshire Green Howards officers British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme Preston North End F.C. players England men's amateur international footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Old Carthusians F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Recipients of the Military Cross People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Deaths by hand grenade 20th-century English farmers