Thomas Shanks (30 March 1880 – 1 March 1919) was an Irish footballer.

Career

Shanks was born in

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

and started his playing career with local club Wexford before moving to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to play for Derby West End and then

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in 1898. He spent three seasons at the Baseball Ground, playing 28 times and scoring 9 goals, but could not hold down a regular place. In October 1901 he moved to Brentford of the Southern League, helping the Bees to promotion to Division One, before being signed by

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 ...

Woolwich Arsenal in January 1903. He made his Arsenal debut against Burslem Port Vale on 10 January 1903, and went on to be a regular that season 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 ...

, scoring five times. His performances for his club earned him the first of three caps for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

on 21 March 1903. Shanks'

1903–04 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

season was a record-breaking one; he scored 24 goals that season, including four

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 ...

s, as Arsenal earned promotion to the First Division. He was the first Arsenal player ever to score more than 20 in a league season. However, a cash-strapped Arsenal sold him back to Brentford in the summer of 1904 and he never played for Arsenal in the top flight. In all he played 48 matches and scored 29 goals for the Woolwich Reds. He played for another two seasons in the Southern League for Brentford before returning to League football with

Leicester Fosse Leicester City Football Club is an English professional association football, football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football league system, Eng ...

in 1906. In three seasons with Leicester he scored 16 goals in 59 appearances, including the only goal in a 1–0 win over

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

in April 1908, which earned them promotion to the First Division for the first time. In 1909 he moved back to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to play for

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

and saw out his career at

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

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanks, Tommy 1880 births 1919 deaths Association football inside forwards Derby County F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players York City F.C. (1908) players Leyton F.C. players English Football League players Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA international footballers People from New Ross Southern Football League players