Thomas Lawrence Hamlett (24 January 1917 – 22 May 1986) 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Congleton Town,

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, and Port Vale. He scored nine goals in 181 league appearances in the six seasons of the

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 ...

immediately following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He later spent 25 years on the

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ing staff at Port Vale, from July 1958 to March 1983.

Playing career

Hamlett became an apprentice joiner. He played football for Cornhill White Star and Chell Heath, as well as representing the North Staffordshire Schoolboys team. He had trials at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. He was signed to Congleton Town, before joining

for a

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...

record

transfer Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies * ...

fee of £750.

devastated his career, limiting him to guest appearances for

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Playing for Stoke, he scored two goals in 35 games in 1941–42, one goal in 34 games in 1942–43, and then played ten games in the 1943–44 season. A brief 19 game spell in the Cheshire League with

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 ...

followed in the first post-war season of 1945–46 before he returned to Bolton. That season he was also called up to the

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 ...

team as a reserve for the games against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He returned to the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

with Bolton on 19 March 1949 and scored an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

in a 4–0 win for the "Potters".

Walter Rowley Walter James Rowley (14 April 1891 – 22 March 1976) was an English footballer around World War I and a manager during and after World War II. He spent some 47 years playing and coaching in the Football League. He played for Oldham Athletic ...

's "Trotters" meanwhile finished 18th in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

in 1946–47, and then 17th in 1947–48 and 14th in 1948–49. In his three years at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

, he scored nine goals in 72 league and 13

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 ...

appearances. He was present at the

Burnden Park disaster The Burnden Park disaster was a crowd crush that occurred on 9 March 1946 at Burnden Park football stadium, then the home of Bolton Wanderers. The crush resulted in the deaths of 33 people and injuries to hundreds of Bolton fans. It was the de ...

on 9 March 1946, where 33 spectators were killed. He signed with

Gordon Hodgson Gordon Hodgson (16 April 1904 – 14 June 1951) was a professional sportsman, born in Transvaal Colony, who is best known as a striker for Liverpool and as a fast bowler for Lancashire. He won two international caps for South Africa and three ...

's Port Vale in May 1949. He went straight into the "Valiants" first-team, making 40

Third Division South The Third Division South 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 North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

and four FA Cup appearances in the 1949–50 season. He then played 45 league and four FA Cup games in the 1950–51 campaign, as the club moved grounds from the

Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditi ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

. He lost his first-team place after an injury in November 1951 and was released by new boss

Freddie Steele Freddie Steele (December 18, 1912 – August 22, 1984) was a boxer and film actor born Frederick Earle Burgett in Seattle, Washington. He was recognized as the National Boxing Association (NBA) Middleweight Champion of the World between 1936 ...

in May 1952 after 25 league and cup games in the 1951–52 season. He returned to Congleton as

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

, before retiring as a footballer.

Coaching career

Hamlett returned to Port Vale as the trainer-

in July 1958. He gave up his coaching responsibilities in May 1960, remaining as a trainer until March 1983 when he retired due to illness. A religious man, he refused to use

bad language Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such as anger, ex ...

, and thus used to motivate his players with words of encouragement. Instead of swearing he used say "fizzing" a lot, as in "the opposition are a fizzing tough bunch". He served the club under 10 different

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Norman Low Norman Harvey Low (23 March 1914 – 21 May 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the son of Scottish international footballer, Wilf Low. A central defender, he played for Newcastle United between 1931 and 1933, before three ...

Jackie Mudie John Knight Mudie (10 April 1930 – 2 March 1992) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward. He won 17 caps for his country, helping the Scotland national team to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Starting his ...

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

, Gordon Lee,

Roy Sproson Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Val ...

, Bobby Smith,

Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former professional football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968 before ending his playing career following five years at Rochdale. Later ...

Alan Bloor Alan Bloor (born 16 March 1943) is an English former professional footballer and manager. He made 394 league appearances in the Football League for both Potteries teams. He spent 18 years as a centre-half at Stoke City between 1960 and 1978, ...

, and John McGrath. He was given a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

on 8 November 1976, Port Vale playing a

Don Revie Donald George Revie (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an English footballer and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the Eng ...

XI.

Personal life

In addition to his career in football, Hamlett also served as a lay preacher in the Methodist church. He married Audrey, who was from Bolton and had two sons: Gordon and David.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamlett, Lol 1917 births 1986 deaths Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent English Methodists English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Congleton Town F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. wartime guest players Manchester United F.C. wartime guest players Mossley A.F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football player-managers English football managers English football coaches Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century English sportsmen