Anthony Weldon (12 November 1900 – 1953) 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 as an

inside 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 ...

for

Kilsyth Rangers Kilsyth Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. Nicknamed ''The Wee Gers'', they were formed in 1914 and play at Duncansfield Park, which used to be one of the bigger ''non-league'' f ...

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

, Everton,

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, Lovells Athletic,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

and Bangor.

Footballing career

Weldon played football in Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland, often spending only one season with a club. Raised in Croy, a village north of

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 ...

, Weldon started his footballing career with local side

before signing for

on 27 May 1924 for a transfer fee of £5. With Airdrieonians, such were his performances that he found himself picked for the first team ahead of Scottish international players,

Willie Russell William Fraser Russell (born 6 December 1901 in Falkirk, died 30 November 1944) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside right. He scored both goals for Airdrieonians in the 1924 Scottish Cup Final. Playing career Airdri ...

and

Hughie Gallacher Hugh Kilpatrick Gallacher (2 February 1903 – 11 June 1957) was a Scottish people, Scottish association football, football player in the 1920s and 1930s. In 597 senior club games, Gallacher scored 419 goals, playing league football for Airdri ...

. He was part of the side that finished second in Division One two years running, in 1924–25 (four appearances) and 1925–26 (19 appearances and four goals), and scored 26 goals in 26 appearances as the club finished fourth in 1926–27. On 10 March 1927, he moved to England and Everton for a transfer fee of £2,000 where he remained until the end of 1929. Weldon's debut match for Everton, on 12 March 1927, saw his side win 2–1 against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. Weldon scored one of the goals, the other coming from Everton legend,

Dixie Dean William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. Dean holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season in top-flight English football, with 60. He is regarded as ...

. His time at Everton saw him play 74 games and score 13 goals and be part of the team which won the 1927–28 First Division. Signing for

for £1,000 in December 1929 he remained there until 1931 when he moved south to play for

. He made his debut on 29 August 1931 in a 1–0 away win against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

; his debut goal coming in his next game, a 3–1 home win against Chelsea. He lasted a single season playing 22 games in all competitions scoring four goals in a season which saw West Ham relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

having finished in 22nd and bottom place in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. In 1932, Weldon signed for Welsh side, Lovell's Athletic, then playing in the Western League. After a season he moved to

in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

, again only for one season. He next signed for

where he became player-coach but this lasted only a few months before he became player-manager of Bangor.

Personal life

Weldon died in 1953. He was the father-in-law of footballer Jim Storrie, who also played for Airdrieonians but was possibly best known as a Leeds United player of the 1960s.Jim Storrie - The laughing cavalier
The Mighty Mighty Whites. Retrieved 2 July 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, Tony 1900 births 1953 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from North Lanarkshire West Ham United F.C. players Everton F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Lovell's Athletic F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Bangor F.C. players Bangor F.C. managers Kilsyth Rangers F.C. players Scottish football managers League of Ireland players Men's association football inside forwards Date of death missing Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Western Football League players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland People from Croy 20th-century Scottish sportsmen NIFL Premiership players NIFL Premiership managers Men's association football player-managers