Anthony Stephen Patrick Loska (born 11 February 1950) is an English former footballer who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He scored 10 goals in 304 league games in a 12-year career 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 ...

with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

, Port Vale,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, and Halifax Town. He was promoted out of the Fourth Division with Chester in 1974–75.

Career

A naturally left-footed player,'Player Memories – Tony Loska', Chester City v Doncaster Rovers matchday programme 14 August 1993, p. 24 Loska began his career at

. Harry Gregg's "Shrews" finished 17th in the Third Division in 1968–69, and then 15th in 1969–70 and 13th in 1970–71. He made 12 league appearances during his three seasons at

Gay Meadow Gay Meadow was a football ground in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, serving as the home ground of Shrewsbury Town. Located on the banks of the River Severn, it opened in 1910. The ground closed at the end of the 2006-07 Football League seas ...

. Loska joined Port Vale in July 1971. In August, after just one game he broke his

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

, but recovered to post 30 Third Division and five cup appearances in the 1971–72 season. He scored his first goal in the

on 6 November, in a 4–4 draw with fallen giants

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

. He scored three goals in 44 games in the 1972–73 campaign, as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Gordon Lee led the "Valiants" to a sixth-place finish. He played ten games at the start of the 1973–74 season but switched to

in December 1973 as part of an exchange deal that saw Neil Griffiths move in the opposite direction. Ken Roberts's "Seals" finished seventh in the Fourth Division at the end of the 1973–74 season. He was then an ever-present in the 1974–75

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

season and also played his part in the club's surprise run to the semi-finals of the League Cup. Chester finished in 17th spot in 1975–76. Loska scored five goals in 110 league games at

Sealand Road Sealand Road was the home stadium of Chester City Football Club (known until 1983 as Chester Football Club) from 1906 until 1990. Although officially known simply as The Stadium, it was more commonly referred to as Sealand Road. It was much lov ...

. He moved on to Halifax Town in October 1976 along with fellow Chester defender

Chris Dunleavy Chris Dunleavy (born 30 December 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played for Everton, Southport, Philadelphia Atoms, Chester, Halifax Town and Wollongong FC. Dunleavy was voted Chester's player of the year for 1973– ...

. The "Shaymen" finished in the re-election zone in 1976–77, before finishing one place above the re-election zone in 1977–78 and then second-from-bottom in 1978–79. In his three seasons at

The Shay The Shay is a multi-purpose sports stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It is home to the FC Halifax Town association football club and the Halifax Panthers rugby league team. The stadium is owned by the Calderdale Metropolitan Bo ...

, Loska made 102 league appearances. Loska joined Stafford Rangers in 1979 to play in the newly formed Alliance Premier League and played for

Droylsden Droylsden is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, east of Manchester and west of Ashton-under-Lyne, with a population at the 2011 Census of 22,689. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, in the mid-19th cen ...

, before joining Nantwich Town in December 1980, helping the club to become

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Fo ...

champions in the 1980–81 season. He left in the summer of 1982 after a stint as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

to become

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

at Alsager Town, and later served Leek Town and Winsford United. He became a coaching assistant for Eastwood Hanley, worked as a youth coach at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and was employed by Abbey Life Insurance.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Chester *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

fourth-place promotion: 1974–75 Nantwich Town *

: 1980–81

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loska, Tony People from Chesterton, Staffordshire Footballers from Staffordshire English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players Alsager Town F.C. players Leek Town F.C. players Winsford United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players North West Counties Football League players English football coaches Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff 1950 births Living people