Tommy Gibson

Tommy Gibson

Personal information
Full name	Thomas Gibson[1]
Date of birth	23 December 1888
Place of birth	Maxwelltown, Scotland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s)	Full back, centre forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–1906	Maxwelltown Volunteers
1906–1907	Morton	3	(0)
1907–1919	Nottingham Forest	186	(32)
1916	→ Heart of Midlothian (loan)	10	(6)
1919–1923	Notts County	63	(5)
1923–1924	Southend United	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Thomas Gibson was a Scottish professional footballer who made over 180 appearances as a full back in the Football League for Nottingham Forest and captained the club.^[1][3][4] He also played in the Scottish League for Heart of Midlothian and Morton.^[5]

Personal life

On 16 December 1914, four months after the outbreak of the First World War and the day after the Football Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment was established, Gibson and Nottingham Forest teammates Harry Iremonger and Joe Mercer travelled down to London to enlist.^[6] Gibson served as a company sergeant major in the 1st Football Battalion and held the rank of warrant officer class II.^[4][7] He was partially buried by a shell explosion on the Somme and developed shell shock.^[8]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Morton	1906–07[5]	Scottish Second Division	3	0	0	0	―		3	0
Nottingham Forest	1907–08[9]	First Division	10	0	0	0	―		10	0
	1908–09[9]		7	0	0	0	―		7	0
	1909–10[9]		3	0	0	0	―		3	0
	1910–11[9]		18	0	0	0	―		18	0
	1911–12[9]	Second Division	36	3	1	0	―		37	3
	1912–13[9]		31	18	2	3	―		33	21
	1913–14[9]		36	5	2	0	―		38	5
	1914–15[9]		36	5	2	0	―		38	5
	1919–20[9]		9	1	0	0	―		9	1
	Total		186	32	7	3	―		183	35
Heart of Midlothian (loan)	1916–17[10]	Scottish First Division	9	4	―		1[a]	0	10	4
Notts County	1922–23[11]	Second Division	4	0	0	0	―		4	0
Southend United	1923–24[12]	Third Division South	5	0	―		―		5	0
Career total			207	36	7	3	1	0	215	39

1. Appearance in Wilson Cup

References

1. Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939 (Third edition, with revisions ed.). Toton, Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 110. ISBN 978-1905891610.
2. "Football's advent. Notts County". Athletic News. Manchester. 15 August 1921. p. 6.
3. "Gibson Tommy Notts County 1923". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
4. Riddoch, Andrew; Kemp, John (2008). When the Whistle Blows: The Story of the Footballers' Battalion in the Great War. Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset: Haynes Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-84425-656-3. OCLC 244314866.
5. Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
6. "EFL Remembers: Royal British Legion – the story of Joe Mercer". www.efl.com. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
7. Tommy Gibson on Lives of the First World War
8. Riddoch & Kemp 2008, p. 145-146.
9. "Thomas Gibson". The City Ground. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
10. "Thomas Gibson – Hearts Career – from 04 Nov 1916 to 20 Jan 1917". www.londonhearts.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
11. "Notts County FC in the 1920's". Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
12. "Player Profile". SUFCdb. Retrieved 18 July 2019.^{[dead link‍]}