Tommy Hamilton (born 1935) is an Irish former

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 forward. He was educated at

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Canon ...

in Dublin. His first club was

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

whom he joined in 1953 where he began playing as an inside forward for the third team and reserves. Hamilton had played for Johnville, where he was trained and scouted by Jem Kennedy who sent him to

. However, Hamilton was not prepared for being conscripted so he came home to sign for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

in November 1955 and made his debut against Waterford at

Kilcohan Park Kilcohan Park Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track and former soccer stadium located in the south of Waterford, Ireland. Operations Racing takes place every Friday and Saturday evening. Race distances are 325, 525, 550, 575 and 731 ya ...

on 6 November in a

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began and was seen as the third most imp ...

match. The following season he was the League's top scorer. Hamilton scored twice for Rovers in the

European Champion Clubs' Cup The European Champion Clubs' Cup, also known as Coupe des Clubs Champions Européens, or simply the European Cup, is a trophy awarded annually by UEFA to the Association football, football club that wins the UEFA Champions League. The competiti ...

. After scoring at

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club de Nice (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional association football, football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of Footb ...

he was ruled out of the home leg due to tonsillitis. He played three times in Europe for the Hoops. He won two caps for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

making his debut in a 2–0 win over Czechoslovakia on 5 April 1959 in Ireland's first ever

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

qualifier at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

. His second and final cap was in the return game at Tehelne pole,

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

on 10 May. He also won one

Republic of Ireland B national football team Republic of Ireland B is the reserve team of the Republic of Ireland national football team. There are no competitions for B teams. However, since 1957 the Football Association of Ireland has arranged occasional friendlies. History Early B inte ...

cap in 1960 scoring both goals in a 2–1 win over Iceland. Tommy finished up scoring 44 League goals and 9

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

goals as well as his 2 European strikes. He represented the League of Ireland 20 times in his seven years at Milltown scoring once. His last competitive game for the Hoops was the 1962

final in which he scored twice. This made up for being bizarrely dropped for the 1957 and 1958 finals. He shared his benefit with

Maxie McCann James "Maxie" McCann (4 March 1934 – 16 November 2017) was an Irish soccer player from Dublin. McCann joined Shamrock Rovers in 1954 and made his debut on 10 April in a 2–0 win against Bohemians at Dalymount Park having signed the previous ...

against Sunderland at

on 30 April 1962. That match was Tommy Hamilton's last match for Rovers as he joined

Cork Hibernians Cork Hibernians F.C. was an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1957 and 1976 and, from 1962, played their home games at Flower Lodge. In 1971, they were League of Ireland champions. The club was di ...

in a player-exchange deal that brought Jackie Mooney to Milltown. The following week he won the Soccer Personality of the Year Award. Hamilton spent three season there before moving to

Limerick F.C. Limerick Football Club was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland. The first Limerick Football Club was founded ...

where he made another Cup Final appearance losing to Rovers. This qualified Limerick for the

1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1965–66 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Borussia Dortmund in an extra-time final victory over Liverpool at Hampden Park in Glasgow. West Ham United were the defending champions, but were eliminat ...

where Hamilton appeared. He retired in January 1969.IT Archive 4
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Honours

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

: 2 **

- 1956/57, 1958/59 *

: 2 **

- 1956, 1962 *

: 3 **

- 1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58 * Leinster Senior Cup: 3 **

- 1956, 1957, 1958 *

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...

: 3 **

- 1956/57, 1957/58, 1959/60 *

Top Four Cup The Top Four Cup was an association football super cup featuring the top four clubs in the League of Ireland. It was first held in 1955–56 and last played for in 1973–74. It was played at the end of the season. Shamrock Rovers were the in ...

: 2 **

- 1956, 1958 * SWAI Personality of the Year **

- 1961/62 * Hall of Fame **

- 1996/97

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Tommy Association footballers from County Wicklow Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Cork Hibernians F.C. players Limerick F.C. players League of Ireland players 1935 births Living people League of Ireland XI players People educated at Synge Street CBS Sportspeople from Bray, County Wicklow 20th-century Irish sportsmen