Thomas Sale (30 April 1910 – 10 November 1990) 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 a

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 ...

. Born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, Sale had two spells at his home town club,

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, amassing 483 appearances, either side of a two-year stint at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. Later in his career, he had brief spells at

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

and

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

, before opting to retire at the age of 39.

Early life

As a fourteen-year-old, Tommy Sale worked in a

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

factory. In conjunction with his work, he played football for Stoke St Peter's (a youth side that were linked with

). His performances attracted the attention of

Tom Mather Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, Stoke City's manager. In August 1929, at the age of 19, he signed with Stoke City on amateur terms.

Playing career

Stoke City

In May 1930, Sale signed a professional contract with Stoke City. On Christmas Day, of the same year, Sale made his senior début in a match against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. By the 1932–33 season, Sale had established himself as a prominent member of the team, helping Stoke win 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 ...

with 11 goals in 21 appearances. In the following two seasons, Sale was the club's top scorer. He scored 17 times in the 1933–34 season, in which Stoke finished 12th in the First Division. In the subsequent season, 1934–35, Sale scored 21 goals, helping Stoke to a 10th-place finish in the First Division.

Blackburn Rovers

Bob McGrory Robert Gerald McGrory (17 October 1891 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager. McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joining ...

, Mather's successor as Stoke manager, sold Tommy Sale to

in March 1936, for the sum of £6,000. This surprised supporters at the time, however McGory had confidence in

Freddie Steele Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...

, who he had earmarked as a potential replacement for Sale. Sale spent two years at Blackburn before departing. Blackburn were relegated from the First Division in his first season at the club, 1935–36, finishing bottom of the table. He left the club halfway through the subsequent season, 1936–37, in which Blackburn finished 12th in the Second Division.

Second spell at Stoke City

Bob McGrory, Stoke's manager, re-signed Sale for Stoke in March 1938, initially as cover for Steele, who was injured at the time. Following his return, Sale scored five goals in three games, as he set about regaining his place in the team. He re-established his place in the side, as he scored 18 further goals in the remainder of the 1938–39 season. The 1939–40 season was suspended due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, however Sale continued his goalscoring exploits with 56 goals (in all competitions) in 1941–42 and then 64 goals over the course of two seasons: 1943–44 and 1944–45. In the latter of these two seasons, Sale netted six times in an 8–0 win over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

. Despite most of his goals coming from open play, Sale was a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

specialist; it is reported Sale only missed one penalty in his entire professional career. Sale's last appearance for Stoke came on 8 April 1946, at the age of 35, in a War League game against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

at Stoke's home ground, the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. Following his departure from Stoke, Sale had two spells at

and

before announcing his retirement in 1949, at the age of 39.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Stoke City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

champions: 1932–33

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sale, Tommy 1910 births 1990 deaths Stoke City F.C. players Men's association football forwards Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players English Football League players English footballers Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent