Thomas Easton Carnaby (25 December 1913 – 1971) was an English 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 ...

who played as a half back for

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, ...

in the final season before the Second World War.

Football career

Carnaby was born in Newsham, near

Blyth, Northumberland Blyth () is a port town, port and seaside town as well as a civil parish in southeast Northumberland, England. It lies on the coast, to the south of the River Blyth, Northumberland, River Blyth. It has a population of 39,731 as of the 2021 cens ...

where he worked as a coal-miner at New Delaval Colliery, and played for the pit team, before joining

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

in 1933. He helped Blyth Spartans win the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although ...

title in 1935–36. In May 1938, he moved to the south coast to join

of 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 ...

. Described as "a brawny centre-half", Carnaby was used as cover for David Affleck. Carnaby made his first-team debut when he replaced Affleck for the match at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

, 1938 (the day before his 25th birthday). Carnaby retained his place at centre-half for the next five matches, including a 4–1 defeat at non-league Chelmsford City in the

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 ...

. After Affleck's return, Carnaby was switched to right-half for four matches, replacing

Ray Parkin Raymond Edward Parkin (6 November 191019 June 2005) was an Australian naval seaman, writer, draftsman, artist and historian. He is noted for his memoirs of World War II (including his time as a prisoner-of-war), and for a major work on James C ...

. His final run of matches came when he replaced Norman Chalk at centre-half for the last four matches of the season.

Later career

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Carnaby was released by the Saints and joined the Southampton police, playing for their War Reserve side. After the war, he joined

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

for a short time.

References

External links

Career details on www.11v11.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnaby, Tom 1913 births 1971 deaths Footballers from Blyth, Northumberland Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Andover F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen