Thomas Crilly (20 July 1895 – 18 January 1960) 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 in

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 ...

for Hartlepools United,

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. He also played for Stockton and Scunthorpe & Lindsey United.

Playing career

Crilly was born in Stockton-on-Tees, England and began his playing career with local team

Stockton F.C. Stockton Football Club was an English football club based in Stockton-on-Tees. The club were known as 'The Ancients' because of their long-standing presence in the town. Their traditional colours were red and black quartered shirts with white sh ...

, before signing for Hartlepools United (then playing in 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 ...

) in 1919. He was ever present in his first two seasons and missed only one game when Hartlepools were elected to the

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 ...

in 1921–22. In 1922, Crilly and teammate Harry Thoms moved, along with

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Cecil Potter, to

. He made over 200 appearances, in total, for Derby and helped the club achieve promotion 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 ...

, before moving to

in 1928 (again at the same time as Thoms). He was a regular in the sides that finished Third Division South runners up in 1929 and 1931. In 1933 he moved to

, where he became club

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 ...

between then and 1935 when he moved to become

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 Scunthorpe & Lindsey United.

Later career

Crilly left Scunthorpe in 1937 and became a publican in Derby. He also assisted with coaching Derby County junior players during The Second World War. Crilly died in Derby on 18 January 1960.

References

External links

Tommy Crilly Hartlepool ProfileTom Crilly at holmesdale.net
English men's footballers English Football League players 1895 births 1960 deaths Derby County F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. managers Men's association football defenders Stockton F.C. players English football managers Footballers from Stockton-on-Tees 20th-century English sportsmen Portrack Shamrocks F.C. players {{England-footy-defender-1890s-stub