Thomas Mulgrew (13 April 1929 – 12 January 2016) was a Scottish 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 most of his career as an

inside forward 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 ...

, 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 ...

Playing career

Born in

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, he started his football career with

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton ...

in March 1948, before moving to England firstly with

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

(from July 1949). In October 1952 he joined

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

where he made fourteen First Division appearances but found it difficult to claim a regular place, having to compete with Reg Davies and

Ivor Broadis Ivan Arthur "Ivor" Broadis (18 December 1922 – 12 April 2019) was an English professional footballer. During a career spanning nineteen years from 1942 to 1961, Broadis represented Carlisle United, Sunderland, Manchester City, Newcastle Unite ...

. In July 1954,

's manager George Roughton paid £12,000 to bring Mulgrew and

Billy Foulkes William Isaiah Foulkes (29 May 1926 – 7 February 1979) was a Welsh international footballer, who played as an inside forward for Newcastle United, Southampton and Chester in the 1940s and 1950s, winning the FA Cup with Newcastle in 1952. Pla ...

to The Dell of which £7,000 was attributed to Mulgrew. He scored 15 seconds into his debut on 21 August 1954 at home to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

(won by Saints 6–4); this was the fastest-ever goal scored at The Dell. Mulgrew went on to score eight league goals that season, as Saints narrowly missed out on promotion to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Although Mulgrew showed promise, this was largely unfulfilled and he did not score consistently. According to Holley & Chalk he was "a real glutton for fetching and carrying." "There was no doubt that Tommy was not only a crowd favourite but popular with his colleagues as well". He became the first player to be sent off for Southampton for 21 years in a match at home to

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

over Christmas 1954. His career at Southampton spanned eight seasons during which he scored 90 league goals in 293 appearances placing him 10th on the club's list of all-time league goal-scorers. He also played 37 cup and friendly games, scoring 10 goals to bring his total goals scored for the Saints to a round century. In August 1962, after a dispute over terms, he moved to

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

, where he played 112 league games, before he joined

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

in August 1965. He had a brief spell in non-league football before moving to

, where he worked in a steel factory in Rothwell until his retirement. He lived in Northampton with his wife until his death in January 2016.

References

External links

Newcastle United profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulgrew, Thomas 1929 births 2016 deaths Footballers from Motherwell Greenock Morton F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Scottish people of Irish descent English Football League players Scottish footballers Men's association football inside forwards