Isaac Tomlinson (16 April 1880 – 24 August 1970) 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 lea ...

who played at

outside-left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

for various clubs in England and Scotland in the 1900s, spending the largest part of his career with Chesterfield.

Football career

Tomlinson was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire and, after playing football for a local village team, he joined Chesterfield, then playing in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

in April 1900. After a season spent in the reserves, Tomlinson took over at outside-left for the 1901–02 season, replacing Walter Arnold who had dropped down to

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

. He only missed one game in the 1902–03 season, scoring seven goals, as Chesterfield finished sixth in the table. Tomlinson then spent a season with

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 ...

without breaking into the first team before returning to his home-town club in June 1904. Another successful

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

with the

Saltergate Saltergate, officially the Recreation Ground, was the historic home of Chesterfield Football Club, and was in use from 1871 until the club's relocation in July 2010, a 139-year history that made it one of the oldest football grounds in England ...

club ended with a fifth-place league finish, with Tomlinson contributing eight goals from 33 appearances. In an

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 ...

match in January 1905, Chesterfield took

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 ...

to a replay in which Tomlinson created a big impression. This drew him to the attention of

Ernest Arnfield Ernest Arnfield (25 December 1853 – 8 August 1945) was an English football manager who was secretary/manager of Southampton F.C. from 1897 to 1911, and again from 1912 to 1919. Arnfield was born in Mellor, Derbyshire. He died in Southampton, a ...

, secretary-manager of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, who fought off competition from other clubs to eventually secure his services in May 1905. The "Saints" had finished third in the Southern League in

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

and were anxious to improve on this, having been champions six times in the previous nine years. Tomlinson was recruited to replace Charles Webb who had moved to Scotland in the summer of 1905 and he made his debut in the opening match of the 1905–06 season, a 1–0 defeat against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. Tomlinson was an extremely speedy winger with an accurate shot and his style of play was similar to that of Joe Turner, who had retired a year earlier. Unfortunately, he had an "''excitable temperament''" and suffered badly from nerves, especially away from The Dell, and he "''often failed to deliver the goods on opponents' pitches''". His anxiety often resulted in him walking around the ground before kick-off rather than sitting in the changing-room. Tomlinson only missed a handful of league matches in his one

with Southampton, scoring eight goals from his 29 appearances including a goal in the 9–1 victory over

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 ...

on 27 January 1906, helping the team to the runners-up spot. Tomlinson also appeared in all five

matches, the first of which came against local rivals,

, on 13 January when Tomlinson and Fred Harrison combined on the right-wing to great effect, giving the Portsmouth left-back,

George Molyneux George Molyneux (31 July 1875 – 14 April 1942) was a professional footballer who played for Everton, Southampton and Southend United, and later became Southend's manager. He played in the 1902 FA Cup Final for Southampton, and won four En ...

, a torrid time with Tomlinson setting up Harrison's second goal with a "perfect centre" and scoring the fifth "with a clinking drive". Saints would go on to reach Round Four, defeating

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

of the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

6–1 in Round Three (with Tomlinson again scoring), before going out to

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 ...

. In the summer of 1906, Tomlinson moved down

The Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whic ...

to join

but managed only five first-team games before trying his luck in Scotland with Heart of Midlothian.

Later career

After retiring from his football career, Tomlinson returned to his home town of Chesterfield where he became a licensee of a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, before returning to

Southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

to settle in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, where he managed a hotel, whilst also acting as a scout for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlinson, Isaac 1880 births 1970 deaths Footballers from Chesterfield English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Chesterfield F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Scottish Football League players