Thomas Anthony Peter Bell (30 December 1923 – 21 November 1988) was an English professional

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 ...

. A left-back, he played in 318

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

matches for three clubs, most notably for hometown club

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

. Bell features, along with his son

Graham Graham or Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...

, amongst 'The Legends of Oldham Athletic'.

Career

Born in Crompton near Oldham, Bell signed for

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

from

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

in 1946. Playing as a right-back, his performances during his 16 matches led to him signing for

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club

in late 1946. The fee of £550 was a record for a Mossley player. Bell made his Oldham debut in their

1946–47 FA Cup The 1946–47 FA Cup was the 66th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Charlton Athletic, the previous season's runners-up, won the competition for the first ...

second-round defeat by

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 14 December 1946. He appears to have played well: the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'' wrote that Bell "left the field thinking out the miserable tale he'd have to tell at home. Outside the ground was the usual mob of autograph hunters. Waiting, not for the stars of Doncaster's successful team, but for Tommy Bell, the man who played a 'blinder'." After playing 170 league matches for Oldham, he signed for

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

in 1952. However, the following year he left to join

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

, where he remained until 1956, making 117 appearances and scoring his only goal in the Football League. After leaving Halifax, he signed for

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

, where he remained until rejoining Mossley during the 1958–59 season. The final season of his playing career, 1959–60, saw him join

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. Having been founded as Hurst in 1892, they folded in 1892, before being reformed in 1909. ...

, where he was appointed captain.

References

External links

* 1923 births 1988 deaths English men's footballers Footballers from Oldham Glossop North End A.F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football defenders 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-defender-1920s-stub