Anthony Thorpe (born 10 April 1974) is an English former 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 ...

and former manager of Melton Town As a player he was a striker. He notably played for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

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 ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. He also played 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 ...

for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. In the Non-League game he has previously appeared for

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...

, Tamworth, Barton Rovers,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, Brackley Town, Stamford and Halesowen Town, where he also had a brief spell as player/manager. Saturday 8 th February 2025 prolific TT Tony Thorpe made his debut appearance for Wigston Willow vets at the age of 50. Scoring on his debut and playing in a 7-0 victory.

Career

Thorpe began his career at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, but he was transferred to

in August 1992. During his time at Luton he switched from attacking-midfielder to striker, with outstanding success. He scored 28 league goals in the 1996–97 season, and soon a move to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

was completed. His time at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

was short and he joined

in the summer of 1998. He took time to adapt as Ashton Gate, and he was then sent out on loan to

and back to Luton twice. He eventually found form in Bristol, before he re-joined Luton on a Bosman free transfer in 2002. After 13 goals in his first season back, Thorpe left the club for

for a cut-price £50,000 fee, invoking outrage from many Luton fans. He scored 10 goals in his first season at QPR, helping them win promotion to the newly formed

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

, but the next season was loaned to relegation strugglers

. He was then released by QPR, and joined

, along with another ex-QPR striker,

Jamie Cureton Jamie Cureton (born 28 August 1975) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker; he is currently employed as the player-manager of Cambridge City. He began his career at Norwich City in 1994, and after the club's relega ...

. His time at Swindon was unsuccessful, and he was allowed to join fellow League One side

. After their promotion to the Championship, Thorpe was released and he move to

in July 2006. However, he struggled to settle there, and he was sent to

on loan in September 2006, and he signed for the Mariners in January 2007. Thorpe was released from Grimsby Town at the end of the 2006–07 season and went on to join

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

team Tamworth, while signing on for Sunday league side Hockley Rangers in Leicester's Alliance League. On 1 November 2007, Thorpe left Tamworth by mutual consent, after an eye condition prevented him from playing. The eye was injured when he scratched the eye on a tile while working, and his vision deteriorated with little sign of improvement. However, he went on to sign for Barton Rovers later in the month. He signed for

on 1 September 2008 but was released after just one game following the dismissal of the club's manager. On 4 September 2008 he signed for Brackley Town. It was announced in late November 2008, that due to new job commitments, Brackley Town and Tony Thorpe came to a mutual agreement for him to move on, as he was unable to find the time commitment needed. He signed for Stamford in December 2008. He remained with Stamford until May 2009, where he then became a free agent until signing for Halesowen Town in December 2009. He was appointed player/manager of Halesowen in November 2010, but resigned in January 2011. He then resumed his playing career at

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough, and is about halfway between L ...

in the East Midlands Counties League.

Honours

Queens Park Rangers * Second Division runner-up: 2003–04 Colchester United * League One runner-up: 2005–06 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1996–97 Second Division

References

External links

*
Halesowen Town FC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Tony Living people 1974 births Footballers from Leicester English men's footballers English Football League players Luton Town F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Reading F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Barton Rovers F.C. players Woking F.C. players Brackley Town F.C. players Stamford A.F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. players Hinckley F.C. players Halesowen Town F.C. managers Melton Town F.C. players Melton Town F.C. managers Men's association football forwards English football managers