Thomas Scannell (3 June 1925 – 30 November 1993) was an Irish 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 ...

Club career

Born in

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long ...

, Ireland, Scannell began his career in England with

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

-based club

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

. In November 1949, Scannell signed for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. Scannell's transfer fee, coupled with Tilbury's impressive run to 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 ...

first round in the same year, allowed Tilbury to purchase their Chadfields ground. Whilst at Southend, Scannell made 98

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 ...

appearances at the club, conceding 148 goals in his first 100 games in all competitions and keeping 31 clean sheets. In 1955, following his time at Southend, Scannell dropped back into

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

, signing for

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

International career

On 7 March 1954, aged 29, Scannell made a solitary senior appearance for the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

, starting in an experimental line-up that defeated

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

1–0 in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

Personal life

Scannell and his wife Peggy had five children, one of whom,

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

, was an actor, best known for his role as Detective Sergeant Ted Roach in the television series ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

''. Tony left ''The Bill'' in 1993, the same year of his father's death, before a brief return in 2000. Tony died in May 2020. Another son of Scannell's, John, was a semi-professional goalkeeper, who played for

Herne Bay Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne, Kent, Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury loca ...

and Whitstable Town."New 'keeper on view tomorrow", ''Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald'', 13 December 1968

References

External links

Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scannell, Tommy 1925 births Association footballers from County Cork 1993 deaths Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Southend United F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's international footballers English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Folkestone F.C. players Tilbury F.C. players Sportspeople from Youghal 20th-century Irish sportsmen