Thomas Blair (24 February 1892 – 28 August 1961) was a Scottish

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

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 ...

Career

Blair was prominent in the 1910s playing for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

, with the culmination of his nine-year spell there being a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

, lifting the trophy as team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He then moved to England with

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 ...

, spending two years there but only the regular in his position in the second campaign. He played on both sides in the

Home Scots v Anglo-Scots Home Scots v Anglo-Scots was an annual association football trial match organised by the Scottish Football Association between the 1890s and 1920s to examine the abilities of possible players for upcoming full British Home Championship internationa ...

international trial and conceded only once in each match, but this did not lead on to a full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. By now in his 30s, Blair accepted an invitation to play in the American Soccer League, appearing for teams including Fall River and

New Bedford Whalers New Bedford Whalers was the name of three American soccer teams based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The first Whalers played in the Southern New England Soccer League between 1914 and 1918. The second Whalers played in the American Soccer Leag ...

. After several years in the United States he returned to Scotland with Ayr United (no league appearances recorded) then spent time in Northern Ireland at Linfield before becoming a coach at

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

in 1937. That same year he made a final, emergency SFL appearance in a 7–1 defeat to St Bernard's, aged 45.

References

1892 births 1961 deaths Scottish men's footballers People from Gorbals Footballers from Glasgow Kilmarnock F.C. players Vale of Clyde F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Dundee United F.C. non-playing staff American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Men's association football goalkeepers Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players Boston Soccer Club players Hartford Americans players Pawtucket Rangers players New Bedford Whalers players NIFL Premiership players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish football coaches 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-goalkeeper-stub