Thomas Ring (8 August 1930 – 5 October 1997) was a Scottish
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 at
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 ...
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
,
Fraserburgh
Fraserburgh (; ), locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of th ...
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
Club career
Ring was born in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
and is best known for his time with Clyde, during which he won the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
.
He started out as a promising
junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Aircraft
* Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft
* PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft
* SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Bowser Jr., ...
player with Ashfield. After he represented an RAF XI against
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
Reserves, an opposition scout tried to recruit him. He'd already joined the ''Bullywee'', but that scout turned out to be ex Clyde captain
Danny Blair
Daniel Blair (2 February 1905 – 7 March 1985) was a Scottish football player who began his senior career in North America before finishing it in England. He also earned eight caps with the Scotland national team.
Early career
Although he wa ...
.
Clyde also won the Division Two title twice in 1951–52 and 1956–57. He scored 178 goals in 384 appearances for the club in national competitions.
Ring was transferred to Everton in January 1960 for £12,000. He made a significant contribution for the ''Toffees'' in the 1960–61 season; many headlines were written concerning him, such as 'Blues could just Ring for service'.
Ring departed
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...
after a broken leg injury November 1961 and then signed for
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
.
He returned to Scotland in early 1963 to sign for Aberdeen FC for only a three month spell, and playing just two first team games, before ending his career with further brief spells, signing for Fraserburgh FC in July 1963 in the Scottish Highland Football League, and then for Stevenage Town FC in 1964, in the Southern League.
junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Aircraft
* Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft
* PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft
* SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Bowser Jr., ...
players to later earn full international honours for that decade.
Ring was
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
a dozen times for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
whilst playing for the ''Bully Wee'' and scored two goals, with one versus the famous
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
team with
Ferenc Puskás
Ferenc Puskás (, ; né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking ...
during the 1954–55 season. The other was scored versus
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
in 1957. Ring scored in the first minute, although England went on to win 2–1.
He was the second Division Two player to be capped against the auld enemy, and he remains the last. Five of his twelve caps were awarded in Division Two. Ring also represented the
Scottish League XI
The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...
.
International goals
:''Scores and results list for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
's,
Scottish League XI
The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...
's, and
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
's goal tally first.''
In popular culture
Ring's name is now a
running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...
on
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...
's ''
Off the Ball
Off the Ball may refer to:
* Off the ball, a term used in football, usually associated with a player's action when not in possession of the ball
* ''Off the Ball'' (radio series), a radio show broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland
* Off the Ball (med ...
'' radio programme, as his surname has multiple connotations. This ensures that he makes it into the show's 'team of the week' almost every Saturday.
Honours
Clyde
*
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1954–55, 1957–58
*
Scottish Division Two
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 k ...
Glasgow Cup
The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...
Liverpool Senior Cup
The Liverpool County Football Association Senior Cup, commonly known as the Liverpool Senior Cup, is a Football (soccer), football knockout tournament involving teams from the city of Liverpool, England and surrounding areas.
It is the County cu ...
Abbeyleix
Abbeyleix (; ) is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located around south of the county town of Portlaoise. Abbelyleix is in a civil parish of the same name.
Abbeyleix was formerly located on the N8, the main road from Dublin to Cork. At one p ...