Thomas Kay Adamson (12 February 1897 – 21 October 1959) was a Scottish 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 ...

, best remembered for his time as a

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 ...

in 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 ...

with Bury and

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 ...

. He later had a short tenure 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 ...

of Irish League club

Ards Ards (or ARDS, ARDs) may refer to: Medical * ARDS, Acute respiratory distress syndrome * ARDs, age-related diseases Places * Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland ** Ards (territory), several historical territorial divisions on the Ards Peninsula ...

Playing career

Early years and Bury

, Adamson began his career at

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

junior clubs Craighead, Cambuslang Rangers, Blantyre Celtic and moved to

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 ...

to join

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club Bury in 1920. Over the course of 9 years at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gi ...

, Adamson made 286 appearances and helped the Shakers to promotion back to 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 the 1923–24 season.

Brentford

Adamson dropped down to the

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 ...

to sign for

prior to the beginning of the 1929–30 season. He immediately broke into the team and made 36 appearances during his debut season, a campaign memorable for the Bees' record-breaking 21 home wins. Adamson was a mainstay of the team for the following two seasons and made 28 appearances to help the Bees to the Third Division South title in the 1932–33 season. Age caught up to Adamson and he made just eight appearances during the 1933–34 Second Division season, before departing

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

at the end of the campaign. Adamson made 153 appearances in five seasons with the Bees.

Stockport County

Adamson returned to the

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

area to sign for

Third Division North The Third Division North 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 South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

club

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

in 1934. He failed to make an appearance for the club and ended his

career in 1935, having failed to score in over 400 professional matches.

Managerial career

Adamson had a short spell as

of Irish League club

in 1935. Former Brentford full back partner Alexander Stevenson was one of his signings.

Personal life

While growing up, Adamson went to school with future Scottish internationals

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish people, Scottish association football, football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 597 senior club games, Gallacher scored 419 goals, playing league football for Airdri ...

and Alex James.

Career statistics

Honours

Blantyre Celtic *

Lanarkshire Cup The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. The Lanarkshire FA was dissolved in June 1999 when it was merged with the Ayrshire and Renfrewshire FAs to form the Wes ...

: 1919–20 Brentford *

Football League 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 ...

: 1932–33

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Tom 1901 births 1959 deaths Scottish men's footballers Brentford F.C. players Bury F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players English Football League players Ards F.C. managers NIFL Premiership managers Blantyre Celtic F.C. players Men's association football fullbacks Footballers from North Lanarkshire Scottish football managers Scottish Junior Football Association players Cambuslang Rangers F.C. players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen NIFL Premiership players Men's association football player-managers