Thomas William Rudkin (16 June 1919 – 30 April 1969) 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 as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He made 50 appearances in the

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 ...

in the years before and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Pre-war

Born in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, Rudkin played for Creswell before joining

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

as an amateur in February 1938 before moving to Lincoln City in May 1938.

Wartime

In the Second World War, Rudkin joined a tank regiment based at Catterick, before being sent to Germany During the war, Rudkin had a number of spells with hometown club

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

in the Midland League, as well as guest appearances for Lincoln City,

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

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" ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Post-war

After the war Rudkin played for Peterborough United in their pre-Football League days and joined First Division

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in January 1947. He made five appearances for Arsenal during the 1946–47 season. Rudkin and George Curtis joined

in exchange for

Don Roper Donald George Beaumont Roper (14 December 1922 – 8 June 2001) was an English footballer who played for Southampton and Arsenal, winning two league titles with the latter in the 1947–48 and 1952–53 seasons. Playing as a Midfielder#Winger ...

in August 1947 with Rudkin valued at £3,000. He made only a few sporadic appearances over the next two seasons before moving to Ashton Gate.

Bob Wright Robert Charles Wright (born April 23, 1943) is an American lawyer, businessman, lobbyist, and author. He is a former NBC executive, having served as president and CEO from 1986 to 2001, and chairman and CEO from 2001 until he retired in 2007. ...

signed Rudkin for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

in May 1949 from Southampton Rudkin made his debut for Bristol City at outside left in the opening fixture of Third Division South season in a 3–1 win over

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 ...

on 20 August 1949. Rudkin made 27 appearances scoring three goals in 1949–50 and a further seven appearances with one goal in 1950–51 as Bristol City languished in mid table. However, in 1951, Rudkin (with three appearances) helped the "Robins" to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup before losing 2–0 at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. Rudkin left Bristol City to join struggling Southern League club Hastings United in June 1951, but later returned to the south-west as player-manager of

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

before settling in his native Peterborough.

Later career

After retiring from football, he joined the ''

Sunday Pictorial The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'' as a circulation agent and then became a steward at a Peterborough nightclub. Later, he became the licensee of the Angel Hotel,

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

where he collapsed suddenly and died, at age 49.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudkin, Tommy 1919 births 1969 deaths English men's footballers Lincoln City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players English Football League players Hastings United F.C. (1948) players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. managers Southern Football League players Lincoln City F.C. wartime guest players Hartlepool United F.C. wartime guest players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Men's association football wingers English football managers British Army personnel of World War II Footballers from Peterborough 20th-century English sportsmen