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Fullname: Thomas King Lyon
aka: Thomas Lyon, Tom Lyon
Born: 17 Mar 1915
Died: 26 Nov 1998
Birthplace: Clydebank
Signed: Oct 1939 (loan)
Left: Dec 1939 (paid-off)
Position: Inside-forward
Debut: Celtic 0-2 Clyde, Regional League, 28 Oct 1939
Internationals: none
Biog
Thomas Lyon was the younger brother of all time Celtic great Willie Lyon and played briefly for the Bhoys as a wartime ‘guest‘ signing. Previously he had been a successful striker for Albion Rovers.
By profession he was a professional masseur. War had just broken out with the UK & France declaring war on Germany in September 1939, and things were not to be the same again, and so like for many other sportsmen, the war hindered their careers.
An inside-forward with Chesterfield his first appearance in the Hoops was a 2-0 Regional League defeat at Clyde in October 1939.
Thomas Lyon would play twice more for the Hoops and left Parkhead after his brief spell having never tasted victory, but it was a poor time to play for Celtic regardless of wartime or not. Celtic lost his last two games 3-0 v Queen of the South and 3-2 v Albion Rovers, before a groin injury is said to have ended his run of games.
At time of his departure, Celtic were sharing bottom place with Ayr in the West/South League with two points from six games, the only club with no wins in the league and this was the truncated League Western Division. Celtic actually won their first match of the season in the game following his last appearance, so that’s a positive note for Celtic but likely was a frustrating one for Thomas Lyon.
If anything good, then he managed to play all three of his games alongside his brother, but we only wish it could have been additionally memorable for other good reasons too. Celtic had a dire season in 1939-40, languishing in 13th place in the league table at the end, so Thomas Lyon alone could not have made the difference to a side in the rough.
He was to serve in the Army during the war, and when the Football League in England resumed, he remained with Chesterfield for two seasons before joining New Brighton for one season, and then moved into non-league football with Prescot Cables.
He passed away in 1998 in Old Kilpatrick, West Dunbartonshire, a long good innings.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES |
REGIONAL LEAGUE |
SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1939 | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3 |
| Goals: | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
none
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(Old Rovers pics @OldRovers )
This one has been up before now with a bit more research.Taken before Rovers’ record attendance of 27,381 at Cliftonhill on 8 Feb 1936 v @RangersFC .The players in black & white strips.Standing (l to r) Tommy Lyon,George Dudley,George Grant. Seated-Johnny Harkins & Jimmy Rice. A Scottish cup tie that Rangers go onto win 3-1. Rovers played in their change strip as basically they had more or less the identical home strip to Rangers. Now if only I could identify the two old timers photobombing in the background. taken that photo from the Robin Marwick collection held by @NL_Heritage.
