CAREER MILESTONES
|
October
6 1919 |
Born
Moses Gate area of Bolton, Lancashire |
|
1927-28 |
Tonge
Moor Council School, Bolton |
|
1928-29 |
Castle
Hill Open Air School, Bolton |
|
1930 |
Represented
Bolton Schools |
|
1931 |
Folds
Road Central School |
|
1932-33 |
Represented
Lancs Schools. Played for Hayes
Athletic. Schools International trial
at Dewsbury (first reserve). |
|
1933-34 |
International
trials at Brighton (3 goals), Durham and Rotherham. |
|
1934 |
Started
work at Walker’s Tannery making golf clubs.
Played for Rossendale United (Lancs Combination) at 15 years of
age. Signed amateur forms for Bolton
and Sheffield Wednesday. |
|
May
1935 |
Burnley
amateur |
|
February
23 1935 |
Made
debut for Burnley “A”. Scored twice. |
|
September
7 1935 |
Made
debut for Burnley reserves |
|
October
9 1935 |
Signed
as professional for Burnley |
|
March
28 1936 |
First
team debut for Burnley, home to Doncaster Rovers. |
|
Summer
1936 |
Played
cricket for Burnley in the Lancs League.
369 runs, average 24.60 (top). |
|
October
10 1936 |
Youngest
player to score a League hat-trick |
|
December
31 1936 |
Transferred
to Everton for £6,500 |
|
January
2 1937 |
Goodison
debut for Everton reserves, against Burnley reserves. Scored the second of Everton’s goals |
|
February
13 1937 |
First
team debut for Everton. Scored a
penalty but Everton lose 2-7 at Wolves. |
|
1937/38 |
Everton’s
leading goalscorer for the season.
First Division leading scorer. |
|
September
21 1938 |
First
representative honour, for The Football League against the Irish League in
Belfast. Scored 4 as the Football
League won 8-2. |
|
October
22 1938 |
Won
first cap for England. Scored once as
England lose to Wales 2-4. |
|
1938/39 |
Everton
are Football League champions. Again
Everton’s and the First Division’s leading goalscorer. |
|
September
2 1939 |
Last
game in peace-time. War declared the
next day. |
|
October
21 1939 |
War-time
League arrangements get underway.
Players allowed to make guest appearances for other clubs. |
|
January
1940 |
Joined
the Army. Posted to Army PT Corps at
Birkenhead. |
|
December
25 1940 |
Played
for Everton in the morning and Tranmere Rovers in the afternoon. |
|
January
18 1941 |
Played
for Greenock Morton whilst on honeymoon |
|
1941 |
Posted
to Aldershot. |
|
February
1943 |
Posted
to Western Command at Birkenhead |
|
May
1945 |
Joined
the Army’s tour of Italy after VE (Victory in Europe) Day |
|
May
26 1945 |
Captained
England against France |
|
November
7 1945 |
Joined
Chelsea for £11,500 |
|
November
10 1945 |
Debut
for Chelsea in Football League South game with Birmingham City. Three days later played against Moscow
Dynamo. |
|
1946 |
Autobiography
“Football is My Business” edited by Roy Peskett, pub. Sporting Handbooks |
|
August
31 1946 |
The
Football League resumes. Scored twice
for Chelsea against Bolton Wanderers. |
|
November
13 1947 |
Joined
Third Division Notts County for a new record fee of £20,000. Notts received a cheque for this amount
but sold Bill Dickson to Chelsea as part of the deal for £2,500. |
|
November
15 1947 |
First
League game for Notts, sandwiched between three appearances for England. |
|
September
26 1948 |
Last
appearance for England, aged 28. |
|
1949/50 |
Notts
are champions of Third Division (South). |
|
1950 |
Boy’s
annual, “Tommy Lawton’s All Star Football Book” pub. Sampson, Low, Marston |
|
February
10 1951 |
Played
for Notts in a friendly against Everton.
20,832 at Meadow Lane saw Everton win 3-0. |
|
March
1952 |
Transferred
to Brentford for £12,000 |
|
January
1953 |
Appointed
player-manager at Brentford |
|
September
18 1953 |
Joined
Arsenal for £10,000 and a player (outside-left James Robertson) |
|
1954 |
“Soccer
the Lawton Way”, instructional book and part autobiography pub. by Nicholas
Kay |
|
1955 |
Updated
autobiography “My Twenty Years of Soccer”, pub. Modern World Library |
|
May
6 1955 |
Last
big representative match for England v Young England at Highbury; scored
twice |
|
November
21 1955 |
Last
appearance for Arsenal first team, in a friendly game with Rangers. |
|
December
26 1955 |
Last
appearance in an Arsenal shirt, in a Football Combination game with
Brentford. |
|
February
1 1956 |
Appointed
player-manager at Southern League Kettering Town. Fee £1,000. |
|
1956/57 |
Kettering
are Southern League champions |
|
May
7 1957 |
Appointed
manager of Notts County |
|
April
29 1958 |
Played
for Notts in a testimonial game against a Select XI. Scored once in a 6-1 victory for Notts. |
|
May
1 1958 |
Played
in a second testimonial game against Kettering. Scored once in a 4-0 victory for Notts. |
|
July
1 1958 |
Sacked
as manager of Notts County after they were relegated from Division Two |
|
Oct.
31 1958-Oct. 31 62 |
Tenant
of Magna Charta Inn, Lowdham, near Nottingham |
|
1963 |
Part-time
scout for Wolves |
|
Oct.
2 1963 - Apr. 64 |
Kettering
manager |
|
April
1964 |
Kettering
director |
|
Oct.
1968 - Apr 70 |
Notts
County coach and scout |
|
Nov.
6 1972 |
Benefit
match at Goodison Park, Everton v Great Britain XI after former playing
colleague Joe Mercer revealed that Lawton had fallen on hard times |
|
1973 |
More
autobiography “When the Cheering Stopped: The Rise, the Fall” pub. Golden
Eagle |
|
1985
to 1996 |
Columnist
for Nottingham Evening Post |
|
November
6 1996 |
Died
Nottingham aged 77 and one month |