Thomas Sampy (14 March 1899 – 1978) 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 a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in

Backworth Backworth is a village in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, about west of Whitley Bay on the north east coast. It lies northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. Other nearby towns include North Shie ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, he played for the majority of his career at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, making nearly 400 appearances for the Blades.

Playing career

Sampy played his early football in his native Tyneside in the north-east of England, turning out for Choppington,

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

and

Chopwell Colliery Chopwell Colliery was a coal mine situated at Chopwell, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. The pit was first sunk in 1781, and was closed on 25 November 1966. The colliery was bought by the Consett Iron Company in 1896, before being handed over to t ...

before being spotted by

. Turning professional and signing for the Blades in November 1920, Sampy was initially employed as an

inside right 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 bein ...

, scoring on his debut against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in February 1921. After playing regularly in that role for a number of seasons, Sampy was switched to

right half 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. ...

in the autumn of 1925, where he played for the rest of his Blades career. Sampy was made club captain during the 1930–31 season but lost his place and the captaincy to Harry Gooney a year later. Regaining his place in the first team during the 1932–33 season, Sampy remained a regular with United until 1934. After 14 seasons and 383 appearances for Sheffield United, Sampy was transferred to nearby rivals

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 ...

in the summer of 1934, taking the role of player-coach. His role was primarily focused on the coaching side however, and Sampy made only one league appearance for the Tykes. In May 1936, Sampy accepted a coaching role at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

where he remained until the onset of

World War II 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 ...

in 1938.

Personal life

Born in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, Thomas Sampy was the elder brother of

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

who also represented

. Sampy was an engineer by trade and returned to his profession during

, working as a production manager. While playing Sampy had also owned a gentlemen's outfitters on

Abbeydale Road Abbeydale Road and its continuation Abbeydale Road South together are an arterial main road and bus route in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The road begins at a junction with London Road (Sheffield), London Road near the former Royal Hote ...

in Sheffield.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampy, Tommy 1899 births 1978 deaths People from Backworth Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside Footballers from Tyne and Wear English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Seaton Delaval F.C. players Chopwell Colliery F.C. players Gateshead A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players English Football League players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century English sportsmen