He was one of the most famous players of his generation. A classic centre-forward, who played among England’s greats of the 1930s and 40s, Tommy Lawton scored 231 goals in 390 games for Everton, Chelsea and Notts County and 22 goals in 23 games for England – a record that speaks for itself.
His autobiography Football is my Business in 1947 is a nostalgic Boys Own read of the football of the day. Some of his vignettes and insights on his playing days are poignant, others prophetic and some carry a resonance echoed some 60-odd years later. Simon Harvey brings you the edited highlights…
In this month’s instalment from Football is my Business, Tom comes up against “the continentals” and their ‘foreign ways of playing’, as he represents England against a rest of Europe side at Highbury. Were it not for the English stiff upper lip, he predicts a riot . . .
“I don’t know why, but these continentals never seem to play the way we do in this country. They are rougher and do not always adhere strictly to the rules. Sometimes they try to play without the ball, which makes it a bit awkward when you are trying to play the game as she was writ.
However, be that as it may, we beat Europe’s best in a game which still leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth whenever I think of it. Jimmy Jewell, later a Squadron Leader in charge of RAF football, refereed the match, and there was one incident, which I venture to think, had it happened on a continental ground, would have caused a riot. When he awarded a free-kick against Andreolo for a lunging attack at Ken Willingham, the Italian centre-half deliberately spat at Mr Jewell! The official’s demeanour was magnificent. In view of the occasion and the distinguished visitors in the stand, he took no notice of the incident, and allowed play to proceed. One of the England players however (he shall be nameless but evergreen in my memory) saw to it that the insult did not pass unnoticed.”
In this month’s instalment from Football is my Business, Tom recalls a day in May 1939 when England played Italy in the sports stadium in Milan and gave what he calls “the Mussolini salute” to all four corners of the ground, on FA instructions. It’s a toss-up whether Tom’s more upset about a disputed Piola goal which gave the Italians a 2-2 draw or the smell of the cooking . . .
The Italians treated us very handsomely and so did the members of Sir Percy Loraine’s staff at the Legation (embassy). Sir Percy was at the reception after the match and did all he could to make us happy. Mussolini was not at the game, but his son, Bruno, was there as well as a number of high officials.
We left Italy with two smells in our nostrils – the smell of that Piola goal and the smell of garlic. You couldn’t escape the garlic. It was everywhere. We used to laugh at Joe Mercer who, whenever we passed a café, used to hold a handkerchief over his nose and mouth to escape the garlic. We could have done with our service respirators in those days. The food was also a little too oily for us and they seemed to put that accursed garlic in every dish. What wouldn’t I have given for some good Lancashire homemade cakes and a cup of tea!
Still, the food wasn’t too bad and when we got to Belgrade, where we were to play Yugoslavia, we were invited to spend an afternoon at the British legation and believe me it was a real home from home to us. There we had the only decent cup of tea throughout the tour.
In this month’s instalment from Football is my Business, Tommy Lawton bemoans the paltry wages paid to players, although he was one of the highest paid of his generation . . .
“To my mind the present system is all wrong. It can, though I don’t say it does, lead to under-the-counter-payments. A player, who by his skill helps to draw a £25,000 gate, and then receives at the most only £10 extra from this vast sum (as happens in a Wembley international match), is surely entitled to more.
What can a top class player earn in a season? Let’s look at my own case . . . a reputed top-class player, centre-forward of the League Division 1 Champions, eight times capped for England in little more than seven months, I received as my legal reward £531 10s, which is about £31 10s more than Tommy Trinder gets in one week! It makes you think.
I still think the top-class player should be paid a great deal more money weekly, or there should be a talent bonus scheme which would make certain the game’s stars should take something out of what they bring into the game. Perhaps I’ve made my claim sound too bitter. There are compensations of course, for those players who are lucky enough to be in the top flight. Continental and overseas trips, with the chance to see foreign countries under the very best conditions – first-class travel, hotels, laid-on tours, souvenirs and all that goes with a big FA or club tour.
In pre-war days, there was always the hope of picking up advertising contracts . . .telling the world you use somebody’s toothpaste, or wear a special sort of boots, or patronize a particular tailor, as well as newspaper contracts. But that’s for the lucky ones.
For the majority of players there’s little else to be made out of the game, other than a salary that an American baseball or ice-hockey player, or a world-famous boxer wouldn’t even look at.”
