Thomas Hutchison (born 22 September 1947) is a Scottish former

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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He made over 1,100 appearances, including 314 in the Football League alone for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, and more than 160 apiece in the competition for Blackpool and Swansea City (serving the latter as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

for a season before resuming as a player, which continued into his mid-40s), plus shorter spells in the United States and Hong Kong. Hutchison gained 17

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

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 ...

between 1973 and 1975.

Club career

Born in

Cardenden Cardenden () is a Scottish town located on the south bank of the River Ore in the parish of Auchterderran, Fife. It is approximately north-west of Kirkcaldy. Cardenden was named in 1848 by the Edinburgh and Northern Railway for its new railway ...

, Fife, Hutchison began his professional career with

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

in the

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

, after he was spotted by manager Archie McPherson. He showed enough potential to attract the attention of larger clubs, and he joined

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ha ...

's Blackpool in February 1968 for just over £10,000. Almost immediately, he took the place of Graham Oates at outside-left, making his debut against Plymouth on 30 March in the English Second Division. The Scot was brought in to bolster ''the Seasiders'' flagging promotion drive, and out of the final nine games of the 1967–68 season, they won eight. Promotion, however, was missed on the final day.

Les Shannon Leslie Shannon (12 March 1926 – 2 December 2007) was an English football player and manager. As a forward, he scored 40 goals in 274 league games in the Football League, playing for Liverpool between November 1944 and November 1949 and t ...

took over from Mortensen as manager, and in his first season achieved promotion to the First Division in 1970 – but it only lasted one season. When

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

took over from Shannon in June 1971, he worked on Hutchison's crossing ability, believing it to be his only weak spot. In 1972,

manager

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

offered £140,000 cash plus Billy Rafferty for Hutchison's services. He signed for the Midlands club, leaping at the chance to play in the First Division on a regular basis. 'Hutch' remained at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City F.C. for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game ...

for eight years, playing 355 games and scoring 30 goals. During his time at Coventry he played probably the best football of his career, winning all of his 17 Scottish caps while at the club. Nicknamed "Mr Magic" by the club chairman,

Derrick Robins Derrick Harold Robins (27 June 1914 – 3 May 2004) was an English cricketer and sports promoter, at one time chairman of Coventry City Football Club. He was born in Bexleyheath, Kent. Robins played two matches for Warwickshire in 1947, but did ...

, he was voted supporter's Player of the Season three times during his eight-year spell at Highfield Road – a feat no other Sky Blues player has yet equalled. Hutchison joined Manchester City for a fee of £47,000 in October 1980, becoming John Bond's first signing at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

. In May 1981, he scored for both sides in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Final, as

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

drew 1–1 with Manchester City. He was not the first to do this — Bert Turner had done so in the 1946 final for Charlton and

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, and

Gary Mabbutt Gary Vincent Mabbutt (born 23 August 1961) is an English former footballer who made more than 750 professional appearances, first playing for Bristol Rovers and going on to play 619 games for Tottenham Hotspur, despite being diagnosed with type ...

would do the same in the 1987 final for Coventry City and Tottenham Hotspur. He had initially put City in the lead, but his own goal (deflecting a free-kick) meant that the final would go to a replay, which City lost 3–2 five days later. Hutchison later played for

Bulova Bulova is an American timepiece manufacturing company that was founded in 1875 and has been owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. since 2008. The company makes watches, clocks and accessories, and it is based in New York ...

of Hong Kong and

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

(US) before returning to the UK, re-joining John Bond at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

in 1983 and moving to Swansea City in 1985 to be managed by Bond at a third different club in his career. When Bond departed, Hutchison served as manager for six months after the club went into liquidation. Come September 1989, Hutchison – now just shy of his 42nd birthday – made his debut in European club competition. Having won the Welsh FA Cup the season before, Swansea entered the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, and were drawn against Greek giants Panathinaikos. They were eliminated at the First Round stage, but not before giving the Greek team a scare losing 3–2 in Athens and drawing 3–3 at

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales. It was used for football matches and was the home ground of Swansea City until the club moved to the newly built Liberty Stadium in 2005. Opened in 1912, the ground held around 12,000 ...

. He is in the record books as the oldest player to have played for Swansea City, playing against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

in March 1991 at the age of 43 years, five months and 19 days. In late-May and early-June 1984, Hutchison made three guest appearances for Manchester United on their summer tour of Australia, playing against Australia,

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 ...

and Juventus. He then made another guest appearance for the club the following May, when he played in Peter Foley's testimonial against an Oxford United XI. He left Swansea near the end of the 1990–91 season, and joined Southern League side Merthyr Tydfil, where he spent another three years before finally retiring from the game in May 1994, at the age of 46, having played more than a thousand first-team games in his career.

International career

Capped 17 times for

, Hutchison appeared at the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

, though was surprisingly omitted from the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

squad in Argentina when he was arguably playing the finest football of his career.

Retirement

On retiring from league football at the age of 43, he joined non-league Merthyr Tydfil where he played for three seasons, finally hanging-up his boots in 1994. He remained in South Wales until 2012, working as a Football Development Officer across the Severn Estuary for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, but moved back to live in Scotland. A poll by the ''

Coventry Evening Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet new ...

'' voted him the most popular Coventry player of the club's First Division era.

Blackpool F.C. Hall of Fame

Hutchison was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player

Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield, (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional football player and manager who latterly worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at B ...

in April 2006. Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Hutchison is in the 1970s.

Honours

Club

Blackpool * Anglo-Italian Cup: 1971 Seattle Sounders *

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

National Conference Western Division Champions: 1979–80 Manchester City *

runner-up: 1980–81 Bulova *

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. ...

: 1981–82, 1982–83 *

Hong Kong Viceroy Cup Hong Kong Viceroy Cup () was a football competition in Hong Kong held by British American Tobacco. Started in 1969, it was the first football competition in Hong Kong which allowed commercial sponsorship. Together with First Division League, FA ...

: 1981–82, 1982–83 Swansea City *

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...

: 1988–89

Individual

* Coventry City Hall of Fame

References

External links

* *
Hutchison in the Blackpool Supporters Association Hall of FameTommy Hutchison visits Highbridge in Somerset
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchison, Tommy 1947 births Living people Scottish footballers Alloa Athletic F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Bulova SA players Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Burnley F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Merthyr Tydfil F.C. players Scotland international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Hong Kong First Division League players Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate footballers Swansea City A.F.C. managers English Football League players People from Cardenden Footballers from Fife Scotland under-23 international footballers Dundonald Bluebell F.C. players Association football midfielders Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players FA Cup Final players