Tommy Hamilton (born 1935 in Bray) is a former Irish

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 forward. He was educated at Synge Street CBS in Dublin. His first club was

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

whom he joined in 1953 where he began playing as an inside forward for the third team and reserves. Hamilton had played for Johnville F.C., where he was trained and scouted by Jem Kennedy who sent him to

. However, Hamilton was not prepared for being conscripted so he came home to sign for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in November 1955 and made his debut against Waterford at Kilcohan Park on 6 November in a League of Ireland Shield match. The following season he was the League's top scorer. Hamilton scored twice for Rovers in the

European Champion Clubs' Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competition in its older format ...

. After scoring at

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

he was ruled out of the home leg due to tonsillitis. He played three times in Europe for the Hoops. He won two caps for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

making his debut in a 2–0 win over Czechoslovakia on 5 April 1959 in Ireland's first ever European Championship qualifier at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

. His second and final cap was in the return game at Tehelne pole,

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

on 10 May. He also won one

Republic of Ireland B national football team Republic of Ireland B is the reserve team of the Republic of Ireland national football team. There are no competitions for B teams. However, since 1957 the Football Association of Ireland has arranged occasional friendlies. History Early B inte ...

cap in 1960 scoring both goals in a 2–1 win over Iceland. Tommy finished up scoring 44 League goals and 9

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

goals as well as his 2 European strikes. He represented the League of Ireland 20 times in his seven years at Milltown scoring once. His last competitive game for the Hoops was the 1962

final in which he scored twice. This made up for being bizarrely dropped for the 1957 and 1958 finals. He shared his benefit with

Maxie McCann James "Maxie" McCann (born 4 March 1934) is a former soccer player from Dublin, Ireland. McCann joined Shamrock Rovers in 1954 and made his debut on 10 April in a 2–0 win against Bohemians at Dalymount Park having signed the previous week. ...

against Sunderland at

on 30 April 1962. That match was Tommy Hamilton's last match for Rovers as he joined

Cork Hibernians Cork Hibernians F.C. were an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1957 and 1976 and, from 1962, played their home games at Flower Lodge. In 1971, they were League of Ireland champions. History The ...

in a player-exchange deal that brought

Jackie Mooney Jackie Mooney (1938 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish soccer player during the 1960s and 1970s. Mooney played for Shamrock Rovers, Athlone Town and Bohemians amongst others during his career in the League of Ireland. Club career Jackie was s ...

to Milltown. The following week he won the Soccer Personality of the Year Award. Hamilton spent three season there before moving to

Limerick F.C. Limerick Football Club ( ga, Club Peile Luimnigh) was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland. The first Limerick ...

where he made another Cup Final appearance losing to Rovers. This qualified Limerick for the

1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1965–66 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Borussia Dortmund in an extra-time final victory over Liverpool at Hampden Park in Glasgow. This season of the Cup Winners' Cup was the first instance of the ...

where Hamilton appeared. He retired in January 1969.IT Archive 4
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Honours

* League of Ireland: 2 **

- 1956/57, 1958/59 *

: 2 **

- 1956, 1962 * League of Ireland Shield: 3 **

- 1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58 * Leinster Senior Cup: 3 **

- 1956, 1957, 1958 *

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...

: 3 **

- 1956/57, 1957/58, 1959/60 * Top Four Cup: 2 **

- 1956, 1958 * SWAI Personality of the Year **

- 1961/62 * Hall of Fame **

- 1996/97

References

Sources

* ''The Hoops'' by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins () {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Tommy Association footballers from County Wicklow Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Cork Hibernians F.C. players Limerick F.C. players League of Ireland players 1935 births Living people League of Ireland XI players People educated at Synge Street CBS Sportspeople from Bray, County Wicklow