Samuel Frederick Tilson (19 April 1904 – 21 November 1972) 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 ...

who played as a centre forward for

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 ...

along with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

. With the Sky Blues he won the

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

Second Division title, the 1934

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 ...

and the 1937 First Division title. Tilson was later inducted into the Manchester City Hall of Fame. He's also tied alongside

Billie Gillespie William Jardine Gillespie (2 October 1873 – 1942) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre forward for Lincoln City and Manchester City. Gillespie is tied alongside Fred Tilson as Man City's ninth highest goalscorer of all time. Car ...

as Man City's ninth highest goalscorer of all time.

Early life

Tilson was born in Swinton,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

on 19 April 1904. He began his football career at Barnsley Congregationals and was able to play in both inside forward and centre forward positions. Subsequently he moved to

where he notched 21 goals in 61 appearances.

Manchester City

In 1928, Tilson along with his friend

Eric Brook Eric Fred Brook (27 November 1907 – 29 March 1965) was an English footballer who played in the outside left position. Brook was also an England international. He was a muscular player with 'one of the fiercest shots in pre-war football' p25 a ...

, were transferred to Manchester City for a combined fee of £6,000. The pair made their debuts on 17 March against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. Brook and Tilson joined a strong forward line at the club that included two England internationals in Tommy Johnson and Frank Roberts. In his first season Tilson made 6 appearances and helped City earn promotion to the first division. In his second season with the team he played 22 times and scored 12 goals making him City's third highest goalscorer behind Tommy Johnson who scored a club record of 38 goals and

who scored 14 goals. Injuries restricted his appearances in the football season of 1929–1930 and 1930–1931. He scored 13 league goals in the 1931–1932 football season and 3 FA Cup goals. City managed to reach the semi-final of the FA Cup that year but were defeated by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

by 1–0. In the 1932–1933 football season Tilson was the club's leading goalscorer with 23 goals in all competitions. This included 17 league goals and 6 FA Cup goals. In the 1933 FA Cup final Manchester City were defeated three goals to nil by Everton who were captained by England international

Dixie Dean William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. Dean holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season in top-flight English football, with 60. He is regarded as ...

. Tilson did not play in the final of that year's competition but did play in the 1934 FA Cup final in which he scored twice in a 2–1 victory over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. City had been trailing by a goal to nil at half time and City goalkeeper

Frank Swift Frank Victor Swift (26 December 1913 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who played as a goalkeeper for Manchester City and England. After starting his career with Fleetwood, near his hometown of Blackpool, in 1932 he was signed by ...

blamed himself for that had given Portsmouth the lead. Tilson in an attempt to console the young keeper told him not to worry because he would score two in the second half. He was true to his words. Tilson would make 264 league appearances for the team and score 110 goals.

Death

Fred Tilson died in

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is an area of Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a large housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately , ...

hospital in Manchester on 21 November 1972. He was cremated 3 days later. He had been chief scout at Maine Road until

Malcolm Allison Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora a ...

was appointed manager.

Legacy

Tilson has been inducted into the Manchester City Hall of Fame. In 1977 the Manchester City Council named eleven streets in a new estate in

Moss Side Moss Side is an Inner city, inner-city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. It had a population of 20,745 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Moss Side is bounded by Hulme to the north, Cho ...

after famous City players including Tilson. He is listed as the twenty-eighth greatest ever City player on the Time website and eighteenth in Ian Penney's book ''The Essential History of Manchester City''. p. 188

Honours

* Second Division:

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

*First Division:

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilson, Fred English men's footballers Manchester City F.C. players Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff Barnsley F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players York City F.C. players England men's international footballers 1904 births 1972 deaths People from Swinton, South Yorkshire Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football forwards 20th-century English sportsmen