Thomas Caldwell (10 June 1885 – 31 December 1967) 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 an

outside-left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He 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

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

, and also played for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, New Brompton and

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. Caldwell played League football with Clapton Orient, making seven appearances during the 1907–08 season. He moved to Southern League club Southend United for a season, then to West Ham United in the summer of 1909. He made his Irons debut on the opening day of the season, alongside fellow debutants Robert Fairman, Robert Whiteman and Vincent Haynes, and totalled 40 league and cup appearances and 8 goals in 1909–10. This included a run of 32 consecutive games before he was sidelined through injury, as well as his only

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

for the club, scored in a 5–0 win over

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 c ...

on 4 October 1909. His partnership with Danny Shea produced a number of goals for Shea and Caldwell was an ever-present during his second season at Upton Park. His three seasons at West Ham saw him make 96 appearances, scoring 13 goals.

References

1885 births 1967 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from West Ham English men's footballers Men's association football outside forwards Leyton Orient F.C. players Southend United F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Reading F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1880s-stub