Thomas Edwin Duff (q4 1905 – q3 1951) was an English

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 an

outside left In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

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 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

. He was on the books of

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

without representing them in the league.

Life and career

Duff was born in

West Cornforth West Cornforth is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the south of Cornforth, near the A1(M) motorway, Coxhoe, Ferryhill and Spennymoor. It is known locally as “Doggie”, but the etymology of this name is uncertain. It ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, the second child of Thomas Duff, a bricklayer, and his wife Elizabeth. He began his football career as an amateur with Northern League club

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

, and his performances earned him selection for a

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

Amateur XI to face an Army XI – the Army won 9–0 – and, in November 1925, a move to

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

club

. Initially, Duff retained his amateur status with Huddersfield, but he turned professional in September 1926. He played for their reserve team in

the Central League The Central League is one of the two baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Central League may also refer to: Association football (soccer) leagues * Central League (England) - an association football league in Engla ...

, but not for the first team. He came close on one occasion: with undisputed first-choice outside-left Billy Smith absent on representative duty with

the Football League XI The English Football League XI was a representative side of the Football League. The team regularly played against the Scottish Football League XI and other national league select teams between 1891 and 1976. For a long period the annual fixture b ...

, Duff would have been the obvious replacement, had he not been injured. Duff moved on to Third Division South club Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, for whom he made his

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 ...

debut during the 1928–29 season. He finished the season, and his spell with the club, with three league appearances. Ahead of the 1930–31 season, Duff joined Third Division

on a month's trial. He scored for the reserves, and played twice in the league – he hit the post near the end of the match after Darlington let slip a two-goal lead against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, – but was not taken on permanently because of what the '' Northern Daily Mail'' called the "brilliance" of

Peter Bell Peter Bell may refer to: People * Peter Hansborough Bell (1810–1898), governor of Texas, U.S. representative * Peter Bell (footballer, born 1898) (1898–1965), English footballer * Peter Bell (footballer, born 1976), Australian rules footballe ...

and

Reuben Vine Reuben Vine (12 September 1903 – 13 January 1969) was an English footballer who scored 11 goals from 48 appearances in the Football League playing as an outside left for Darlington between 1929 and 1931. He was on the books of Gateshead withou ...

. In September 1930, he signed for

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 ...

club Crook Town. Duff died in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, in 1951 at the age of 45.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Tommy 1905 births 1951 deaths Sportspeople from Sedgefield Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Bishop Auckland F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Darlington F.C. players Crook Town A.F.C. players Northern Football League players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen