Tommy Gaynor (born 29 January 1963 in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

) was an Irish soccer player during the 1980s and 1990s. He made his

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

debut on 13 September 1981 for

Limerick United 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 ...

before signing 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 1982. He scored 2 goals in 3 appearances for the club in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. He left to sign for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

in 1983. Moved back to Limerick where he was joint top scorer in 1984–85 and top scorer in 1985–86. He signed for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in 1987 spending 5 years there before signing for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

in 1992. At the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

he helped Forest win the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

and

Full Members' Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

in 1989, when they also finished third in the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

. However, he was left out of the side for the League Cup final of 1990, when Forest retained their trophy. In his time at the

, Gaynor was one of the Forest players who had to cope with the horrors of the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...

during the opening minutes of their FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool. Gaynor played in the rescheduled game at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, which Liverpool won 3–1. Despite scoring regularly for the Forest first team he spent the majority of his time as a reserve player, often behind considerably less prolific strikers. Gaynor Close is the name of the road which bears witness to the impact Tommy made on Forest's fans. He then returned to his homeland and despite guesting for Shelbourne in a friendly against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

he signed for

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

in August 1993, initially on a months loan. This deal became permanent but Gaynor had a turbulent relationship with the then

Bishopstown Bishopstown () is located in the civil parish of St. Finbar's, Barony of Cork, County Cork, Ireland. It is a southwestern suburb of Cork and is made-up of the townlands of Ballineaspigbeg and Ballineaspigmore (sometimes spelled Ballinaspigmore) ...

based club. In December 1994 he failed to turn up for a league game. He signed for

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

in October 1995 and scored twice on his debut. He was Athlone's top scorer that season with 12 league goals. Rejoined Cork in September 1996 but was back playing for Athlone in early 1997. Gaynor transferred to

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

in February 1997 and again scored on his debut. He had further spells with

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

, where he scored against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in a friendly,

and

Kilkenny City Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilkenn ...

. He was appointed Kilkenny City manager on 11 July 2007.. Gaynor became the first player to win the League Cup in Ireland and England.

Honours

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 ...

: **

– 1982 * PFAI Player of the Year: **

– 1984/85 *

– 1989, 1990 *

– 1989 *

FAI League Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited ...

– 1995

References

External links

*
''Tommy Gaynor in 'Soccer Players' file at Limerick City Library, Ireland''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaynor, Tommy 1963 births Living people Association footballers from Limerick (city) Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Limerick F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Kilkenny City A.F.C. players League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players League of Ireland managers English Football League players Republic of Ireland association football managers