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Thomas "Tommy" Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English association footballer who rose to fame a short time before the outbreak of the Second World War and enjoyed a successful career which lasted until well into the 1950s. ==Playing career== Born in Farnworth, Lancashire, Lawton's precocious talent won him a trial for the England schoolboy team in which he scored a hat trick but this never led to a junior cap. In 1935, he signed for Second Division club Burnley. Lawton later wrote, "I remember my first meeting with Hughie Gallacher. It was after I had had a bad game for Burnley Reserves against Derby County Reserves. I was walking off the pitch with my heart in my boots when Hughie, who was the Derby centre forward, came up to me and said, "Look, son, you must learn to cover the ball with your body. If you are being tackled on your right, keep the ball on your left foot, so your opponent will have to come across you to get at it, and it's the same the other way round. If you do that they won't take it from you." I shall never forget the great Hughie Gallacher for that." Despite flat feet and needing to wear orthotics, as a striker, he rapidly achieved fame for his pace, heading ability and two-footed effectiveness in front of goal. By the start of 1937, 17-year-old Lawton had been bought by First Division Everton for £6,500 to play alongside the phenomenal, but ageing, Dixie Dean. Exposure and experience in the top flight led to his selection for England in the international against Wales in October 1938, two weeks after his nineteenth birthday. Lawton scored from the penalty spot in the 4-2 defeat. England would play seven more internationals before the outbreak of World War II, with Lawton playing in all of them. He scored in the first six of these games, equalling a record for goals in consecutive internationals held by Tinsley Lindley and Jimmy Windridge, and never equalled since. He also scored 34 goals for Everton in the final season before World War II, helping the club to win the league title. For the duration of the war, Lawton served in the army as a physical training instructor. As well as continuing to play for Everton, under wartime conditions he also guested for other clubs, which led to some unusual situations. On Christmas Day 1940, he played for Everton against Liverpool at Anfield in the morning and for Tranmere Rovers at Crewe Alexandra in the afternoon. Explaining this later, he said, 'The Tranmere people came into the dressing room and asked if anyone wanted to play as they were two men short. I said, "Go on, I'll help you out." And I did.'〔Anton Rippon - 'Gas Masks for Goalposts - Football in Britain during the Second World War' - Sutton Publishing 2005〕 He also guested for Chester, scoring five times in a match against a Royal Air Force XI in May 1943, and ventured into Scottish football, guesting for Greenock Morton. Post-war, he joined Chelsea for £11,500. He made his debut for Chelsea in their friendly match against touring Soviet side FC Dynamo Moscow in November 1945, scoring with a powerful header in a 3-3 draw. Lawton scored 26 goals in 34 league games in the 1946–47 season, but struggled to settle in London and came into conflict with Chelsea manager Billy Birrell, which resulted in him requesting a transfer. Despite being at the peak of his playing career, he shocked the football world with a move to Third Division Notts County for a record transfer fee of £20,000, probably attracted by manager Arthur Stollery, who had formerly been physiotherapist at Chelsea. At County, he immediately realised an iconic status and real rapport with the Nottingham public, scoring 103 goals in 166 appearances for the club over five seasons and helping them win promotion to Division Two in 1950. Lawton was capped 23 times for England, scoring 22 goals, including a further sequence of five consecutive internationals in which he scored. His first cap for England came at the age of 19 and his final cap came in 1948 at the age of 29, although he continued to play at club level for a further seven years. In 1952, Lawton took the player-manager role at Brentford, signing for a club record £16000 fee. He enjoyed little success and during his time at the club he appeared in the film ''The Great Game''. In November 1953 he joined Arsenal for £10,000 and saw out his professional playing career there. In his two years for the Gunners he scored 15 goals in 38 matches, including one in the Gunners' 1953 Charity Shield win over Stanley Matthews' Blackpool. He retired from playing at the end of the 1954–55 season after a career which lasted 20 years. By the time he played his last game, he was 35 years old. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tommy Lawton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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