Reginald Garnet "Tim" Williamson (6 June 1884 – 1 August 1943) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who made 602 appearances as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

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 ...

, scoring two goals, as well as 7 appearances 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 ...

Playing career

While he was young, Williamson played

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

for Coatham Grammar School. He also played at amateur level for Redcar Juniors and Redcar Crusaders before he kept goal for

in a friendly game versus Cliftonville as a 17-year-old. Middlesbrough were very interested in signing him as a professional, but he only agreed under the condition that they allowed him to continue his interest in becoming a qualified draughtsman. Williamson's first competitive appearance for the club was in a game versus Crook Town in the

Northern Football Alliance The Northern Football Alliance is a football league based in the North East, England. It has four divisions headed by the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. The top club in the Premier Division i ...

on 1 January 1902, with his league debut coming in a home game against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on 19 April of the same year. Initially an understudy for Scottish international Rab Macfarlane, he gained a regular place in 1903–04 and never looked back. Williamson's Middlesbrough service saw him make 602 appearances in all competitions, of which 130 were consecutive. His appearance total is still a Middlesbrough record. He was nicknamed "Tiny", due to him being barely tall. He played in the last game at

Linthorpe Road Linthorpe Road was a cricket and football ground in Middlesbrough in England. It was the home ground of Middlesbrough Cricket Club and Middlesbrough F.C. History Linthorpe Road opened as a cricket ground in 1875, and football began to be play ...

and the first league game at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the Ayresome area of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It ...

. He scored two goals, both from the penalty spot, though after he missed one against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

he never took another, after feeling the risk of racing back to his own goal was both too risky and tiring. He was Middlesbrough's first capped goalkeeper, gaining seven full

caps. His first came against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in February 1905 in the first international to be played at Ayresome Park, in which he 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 ...

. His next appearance did not come for six more years, with the brilliance of Sam Hardy keeping him out of the team. Williamson's reserved occupation meant that he was exempt from a call-up for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 ...

refused to sanction his benefit later, on the grounds that those years during the war did not count towards his Middlesbrough service. He did eventually receive a game however, versus Chelsea. His final game came on 24 March 1923, a 1–0 defeat to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. At 38 years and 9 months old, he would be the oldest player to represent Boro until

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

broke that record 74 years later.

Retirement

On retirement, he was paid a sum of £1000, as well as a silver tea and coffee service from Middlesbrough chairman Philip Bach. Williamson continued to keep goal for a works team, however. Not interested in watching football, he spent his free time playing

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and taking his sporting gun to Teesmouth. He died on 1 August 1943 at

North Ormesby North Ormesby is a part of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. The area has gained the common nickname of Doggy, it is of unknown origin. Population of the now former "North Ormesby and Brambles Farm" ward was 6,268, at the 2011 census, ...

Hospital following an operation, and is buried in Coatham Churchyard.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Tim 1884 births 1943 deaths English men's footballers Middlesbrough F.C. players England men's international footballers People from North Ormesby English Football League players English Football League representative players Men's association football goalkeepers