Thomas Bradshaw (7 February 1904 – 22 February 1986) was a Scottish

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 lea ...

of the 1920s and 1930s, who played for Bury,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Third Lanark and South Liverpool. He also played once for the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...

, in their 5–1 win against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1928. A large, physically imposing player, Bradshaw was ironically nicknamed 'Tiny'.

Playing career

Bury

He began his professional career with English side Bury, in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, having been signed from local amateur side Woodside Juniors. A wing-half or centre-half, Bradshaw spent eight years with the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

club.

Wembley Wizards

Bradshaw was called up for his senior international debut on 31 March 1928 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

in a 5–1 win over

, a performance that saw the Scotland side dubbed the '

Wembley Wizards The Wembley Wizards is the nickname for the Scotland national football team that defeated England 5–1 at Wembley in the 1928 British Home Championship. Background Scotland had failed to win either of their previous matches in the 1928 Brit ...

'. In his one game for Scotland Bradshaw directly nullified Dixie Dean, England's most potent goalscorer of his generation. Despite such a notable individual and team performance, Bradshaw was the only wizard to have this game as their only full cap.

Liverpool

Two years later, in January 1930, Liverpool manager George Patterson paid £8000 for his services, he made his debut on 25 January at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. It was a day to remember as Liverpool won the game 1–0. His first goal for Liverpool came on 3 September 1932 in a match against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, where Newcastle won a 4–3 thriller. Tom stayed at the

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

club for eight years, playing most of his games at centre-back, eventually racking up 291 appearances.

Later career in football

Following his departure in 1938, Bradshaw had short spells with Third Lanark and South Liverpool, before retiring to work as a scout for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

for a period of time. In 1947–48 Bradshaw was coach in the Netherlands at 't Gooi.Sportflitsen. "De Gooi- en Eemlander : nieuws- en advertentieblad". Hilversum, 07-07-1948, p. 3. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 19-11-2021, https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011173581:mpeg21:p003

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website
Player profile
at LFChistory.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Tom 1904 births 1986 deaths Footballers from Renfrewshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Bury F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Third Lanark A.C. players South Liverpool F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scotland men's international footballers Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff People from Bishopton SC 't Gooi managers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen