Thomas John "Spill" Spilsbury (1874–1947) was a

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 ...

who played 57 games at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Burslem Port Vale (25 in the

Midland Football League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an England, English association football, football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the form ...

, 16 in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

Career

Spilsbury played for Dresden United before joining Burslem Port Vale in February 1897. His debut match could hardly have gone better; an 8–0 romp over Grantham Rovers at the Athletic Ground. He was a regular until January 1899 and was a member of the 1898

Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78 (then under Sheffield Rules. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed ...

winning side during his run. He played 15 Second Division and two

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

games in the 1898–99 season, but featured just once in the 1899–1900 season and retired at the end of the 1900–01 campaign.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Port Vale *

: 1898

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spilsbury, Thomas 1874 births 1947 deaths People from Dresden, Staffordshire English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Dresden United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Midland Football League players English Football League players