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Tommy Aspden

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Tommy Aspden
Personal information
Full name Thomas Eccles Aspden[1]
Date of birth (1880-12-27)27 December 1880[2]
Place of birth Liverpool,[1] England
Date of death 17 February 1959(1959-02-17) (aged 78)[3]
Place of death Fleetwood, England[3]
Height 5 ft 8+3⁄4 in (1.75 m)[4]
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
190?–1902 Preston North End 0 (0)
1902–1903 Kettering
1903–1904 Burnley 29 (4)
1904–1905 Brighton & Hove Albion 7 (0)
1905–1906 Oldham Athletic
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas Eccles Aspden (27 December 1880 – 17 February 1959) was an English professional footballer who played as a winger in the Football League for Burnley.[1] He was on the books of Preston North End without appearing for their first team, played Southern League football for Kettering and Brighton & Hove Albion, and was briefly attached to Oldham Athletic.

Life and career

[edit]

Aspden was born in 1880 in Liverpool,[2] the son of Robert Aspden, a train driver, and his wife Sarah.[5] By the time of the 1891 Census, his father had died, and the family were living in Preston, Lancashire, where his mother was landlady of the Cross Keys pub.[6]

Aspden was on the books of Preston North End by November 1899.[7] He played for their Lancashire Combination team,[8][9] but did not always impress,[10][11] but none for the first team,[1] and joined Southern League club Kettering in June 1902.[12] He played for Kettering for a season and then, amid interest from other Southern League clubs, returned to Lancashire to sign for Football League Second Division club Burnley in August 1903.[4]

He made his Burnley debut in the opening game of the 1903–04 season, a goalless draw with Chesterfield on 5 September 1903, appeared in each of the first eight matches of the season, and scored his first goal for the club on 3 October in a 2–0 win over Grimsby Town. He then spent the next four matches out of the Burnley side, his place in the starting line-up taken by Jimmy Hogan. He returned to the team for the 3–1 loss to Lincoln City on 19 December and from then on missed only one game in the remainder of the season. On 23 January 1904, Aspden scored both goals in the 2–1 win against Preston North End at Turf Moor. He ended the season with four goals in 29 league appearances but left Burnley in the summer of 1904 to join Brighton & Hove Albion of the Southern League.

Aspden played seven Southern League matches for Brighton before damaging a knee during a match in October. After specialist surgery to repair a displaced cartilage, he was able to resume playing reserve-team football by the following March.[13][14] He returned north, and in October 1905 joined Oldham Athletic of the Lancashire Combination,[15] with whom he ended his career.

The 1911 Census finds Aspden, his wife, Emily née Cookson, their two young children and a boarder living in Accrington, where Aspden worked as a billiard manager.[16][17] He was resident in Lytham St Annes at the time of his death in Rossall Hospital, Fleetwood, in 1959 at the age of 78.[3]

References

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General

  • Simpson, Ray (2007). The Clarets Chronicles: The Definitive History of Burnley Football Club 1882–2007.

Specific

  1. ^ a b c d Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888–1939. SoccerData. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  2. ^ a b "Player search: Aspden, TE (Tommy)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Find a will: Wills and probate 1858–1996". UK Probate Service. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Football news. Another player for Burnley". Burnley Express. 15 August 1903. p. 6.
  5. ^ "1881 England Census for Thomas Aspden: Lancashire: West Derby: West Derby (Municipal): District 59". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881. RG11/3709 120 p. 19 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  6. ^ "1891 England Census for Thomas Aspden: Lancashire: Preston: St Peter: District 06". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891. RG12/3435 75 p. 36 – via Ancestry Library Edition.
  7. ^ "Accrington Stanley v. Preston North End Reserve". Lancashire Daily Post. 4 November 1899. p. 3.
  8. ^ "Preston North End Reserve v. Manchester City Reserve". Lancashire Daily Post. 1 February 1902. p. 3.
  9. ^ "Preston North End Reserve v. Stockport County Reserve". Manchester Courier. 25 April 1902. p. 3.
  10. ^ "Lancashire Combination". Lancashire Daily Post. 28 October 1901. p. 5. Aspden ... shows nothing like the form expected from him
  11. ^ "Lancashire Association. North End player suspended". Lancashire Daily Post. 3 December 1901. p. 5. At Waterfoot, on November 2nd, Thomas Aspden, of Preston North End, was ordered off the field by the referee, Mr. James Foster, and the player named was suspended for 14 days from date.
  12. ^ "Local news". Stamford Mercury. 13 June 1902. p. 6.
  13. ^ Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  14. ^ "Footballer operated upon". Brighton Gazette. 11 March 1905. p. 6.
  15. ^ "Football". Manchester Courier. 14 October 1905. p. 9.
  16. ^ "Thomas Eccles Aspden: England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005". England & Wales Marriages, 1837–2005. 1904 Q3, vol. 8E, p. 1283 – via FamilySearch.
  17. ^ "Thomas Aspden: England and Wales Census, 1911". Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. RG14/24775/0155/1 – via FamilySearch.
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