Dr. Tinsley Lindley OBE (27 October 1865 – 31 March 1940) was an English

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 le ...

. He was described as "an ideal centre forward". He scored three goals in his debut aged 16 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 ...

. He was an amateur who did not wear football boots but scored 14 goals for England in 13 internationals Lindley was given an O.B.E. in January 1918 for his work during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and in 1935 he was also awarded the

King George V Silver Jubilee Medal The King George V Silver Jubilee Medal is a commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the accession of King George V. Issue This medal was awarded as a personal souvenir by King George V to commemorate his Silver J ...

.Notts County match programme 8 March 2014 pg. 63 On retirement from football, Lindley turned his attention to his law practice, having been called to the Bar in 1899 while still playing.

Early life

Lindley was the third son of Leonard Lindley who was a lace dresser and

Mayor of Nottingham The Lord Mayor of Nottingham is a largely ceremonial role for the city of Nottingham, England. The position was historically Mayor of Nottingham; this was changed to Lord Mayor in 1928. The position is elected every May by Nottingham city co ...

in 1882. The family lived in Clipstone Avenue, Nottingham and Lindley attended

Nottingham High School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

between 1875 and 1883, where he first revealed his talent. His older brother,

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin '' L ...

, was also a talented footballer and cricketer. He later attended

The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational independent school in Cambridge, England. It is a day and boarding school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Histo ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he turned to rugby. From 1885 to 1888 he studied at

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

and during this time played football for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and also for the Corinthians and Casuals. Lindley obtained not just a degree but he also achieved a

Master of Law A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

and

LL.D Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the earl ...

law doctorate.

Club career

In 1888, Lindley returned to his home town to join

. He was the youngest ever Nottingham Forest player and at age 16 he scored three goals on his debut on 17 February 1882. In one season, he scored 85 goals for Forest. During the 1889–90 season also played three matches for Nottingham rivals

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. Lindley was drafted in as cover for James Oswald in a match against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. Villa were unhappy as he was not registered, they appealed and Notts were fined £5. Lindley appealed but the fine was increased to £30 and Notts were deducted two points. In 1891 he also played for

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

and

Swifts Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

for a short while before guest-playing for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

in a 4–1 defeat at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1892. His many transfers were due primarily to his professional full-time career and the fact that he always remained an amateur, although many clubs wanted to hire him as a professional. He was the epitome of the 'Corinthian gentleman amateur' of his time, being an academic as well as a sportsman. He refused to wear ordinary football boots when playing, preferring walking brogues instead, declaring that boots marred his great sprinting speed.

International career

His England call-up came on 13 March 1886 when, along with his Nottingham Forest teammate

Teddy Leighton John Edward Leighton (26 March 1865 – 15 April 1944) was an English amateur footballer who played on the wing for Nottingham Forest and the Corinthians in the 1880s and made one appearance for England in 1886. Football career Leighton was b ...

, he was one of eight new caps selected to play against

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 ...

Ballynafeigh Park The Ulster Cricket Ground in Ballynafeigh Park was a sports venue in Ballynafeigh, Belfast. Opened in 1879, it was the home ground of both Ulster Cricket Club and Ulster F.C. During the 1880s, it also hosted several Irish Cup finals and Ireland i ...

, Belfast. Lindley scored as England "totally dominated" the match with

Benjamin Spilsbury Benjamin Ward Spilsbury (1 August 1864 – 15 August 1938) was an English international footballer. Early life He was born at Findern, Derbyshire, son of the Reverend Benjamin Ward. Spilsbury was an all-round athlete at Rossall School and la ...

scoring four goals in a 6–1 victory. It has been claimed that he holds the record for scoring in nine consecutive

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 ...

matches between 13 March 1886 and 7 April 1888. However, there is no substance whatsoever to this claim, as this includes the match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 29 March 1886, in which all contemporary reports credit the goals to

George Brann George Brann (23 April 1865 – 14 June 1954) was an English amateur cricketer and footballer who had a long career with Sussex County Cricket Club at the end of the 19th century, and played three matches for the England national football team. ...

Fred Dewhurst Frederick Dewhurst (16 December 1863 – 21 April 1895) was an English professional footballer, who played as an inside forward for Preston North End in the late 19th century. Dewhurst was the first North End player to play representative foot ...

and Andrew Amos. He did, however, score in each of the next 6 consecutive games, which is still an England record (though note that

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem " Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at ...

scored in ten consecutive matches ''in which he played'', and

George Camsell George Henry Camsell (27 November 1902 – 7 March 1966) was an English footballer who scored a club record 325 league goals in 419 games for Middlesbrough, and 18 goals in nine appearances for England. His 59 goals in one season (1926–27) fo ...

in nine). In total he scored 14 international goals in just 13 games. He held the overall England goalscoring record from March 1888 when he equalled

Charles Bambridge Edward Charles Bambridge (30 July 1858 – 8 November 1935) was an English footballer who made eighteen appearances as a left winger for England between 1879 and 1887, being appointed captain twice. He was one of three brothers who played for E ...

's tally of 11 until his final tally of 14 was overhauled by

in 1898.

First-class cricket

Lindley played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

and

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. He played ten games between 1885 and 1893 taking nearly a wicket a match as a round-arm right-armed slow to medium bowler. Lindley also averaged about ten runs per innings as a right-handed batsman.

Retirement from playing

On retirement from football, Lindley turned his full attention to his law practice, having been called to the Bar in 1899 while still playing. He also lectured in law at

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

and served as a County Court Judge on the Midland Circuit. Lindley also stayed loyal to Nottingham Forest, serving on the committee for several years. Lindley was also a President and Vice-President for local Amateur side Nottinghamshire FC who were formed in 1895. During

, Lindley served as the Chief Officer of the Nottingham

Special Constabulary The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of statutory police forces in the United Kingdom and some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as special constables. Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a specia ...

and as Deputy Director of the Nottinghamshire Territorial Association. He was awarded the OBE in 1918 for these services. He lived at 14 Park Terrace in Nottingham. He died in Nottingham on 31 March 1940 aged 74.Tinsley Lindley
CricInfo, retrieved 22 December 2013 In October 2013 a campaign was launched to raise £6,000 to provide a headstone on Lindley's grave in the

Wilford Hill Wilford Hill is the highest point in Nottinghamshire on the Trent's south bank, giving views of the Trent Valley as far as Newark-on-Trent. It is listed as having an elevation of 87m and a prominence of 49m. The area has historic significance ...

Cemetery near Nottingham. For an unknown reason, Lindley had been buried in an unmarked grave. As of 11 March 2014 £5850 had been raised. The memorial was unveiled on 31 March 2014.

References

External links

*
CricInfo profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindley, Tinsley 1865 births 1940 deaths People educated at Nottingham High School People educated at The Leys School Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Nottingham Officers of the Order of the British Empire English footballers England international footballers Cambridge University A.F.C. players Casuals F.C. players Corinthian F.C. players Crusaders F.C. (London) players Swifts F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers English barristers 20th-century English judges Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers Association football forwards Footballers from Nottingham Cricketers from Nottingham County Court judges (England and Wales)