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Tom Murray |
Thomas Murray was probably born in Scotland, although his place and date of birth remain unknown to us. * The defender signed for George Easton's Thistle on Friday, 13th November, 1908, having most recently been with Maryhill. He made his debut appearance on Saturday, 14th November, 1908, in a 6-0 defeat at home to Airdrieonians in the SFL First Division. There were no goals for Tom during his time with Thistle. He played his last game for the club on Wednesday, 28th April, 1909, in a 1-0 defeat away to Heart of Midlothian in the SFL First Division, having appeared as a Jag on 22 occasions. His club-list included Maryhill, Partick Thistle, Southend United, Portsmouth, Airdrieonians and Motherwell. We don't know where or when Tom died. *
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Stepping up from the juniors should be an event which gives the player a great deal of satisfaction but, by the end his season 1908-09 baptism, Tom Murray probably wished he had stayed with Maryhill. The right back could hardly have picked a worse time to join Partick Thistle, for the homeless Jags were just about to experience season horribilis flitting around nomadically and invariably being soundly beaten most weeks. Tom's personal record reads like a bit of a nightmare; P22 W1 D4 L17 F22 A64. He never played for the Jags again, and was placed on the Open to Transfer list the following season. After Firhill, his compass was fixed in a southerly direction, and he became part of the struggling Southend United side which finished 20th of the 22 sides in the Southern League Division 1 in 1909-10. Tom was part of the touring party which visited Germany in May, rounding off the season with a bit of adventure. With Southend, he experienced the pain of relegation to Division Two at the end of 1910-11. In August 1912, he joined Portsmouth of Southern League Division Two, who had just missed out on the title on goal average. Tom returned home to Scotland before that season was through, signing for First Division Airdrie in February 1913. He made 22 League appearances for the Diamonds before switching to their fierce Lanarkshire rivals, Motherwell, in the summer of 1914. He played 7 times for Motherwell in their disappointing top-flight campaign of 1914-15, as the Steelmen finished 18th in the 20-team First Division. Tom was registered with the club throughout the war, but without further involvement in the first team. |
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