Tommy Lawton (1936–1956, Burnley, Everton, Chelsea, Notts County, Brentford, Arsenal and England)

Born in Farnworth in 1919 and raised in Bolton, Tommy Lawton turned professional with Burnley on his seventeenth birthday before a move to Everton in January 1937. A centre-forward of rare all-round ability and widely regarded as the finest header of a ball of his generation, he was scoring goals at the highest level while still a teenager.

At Everton he finished as the First Division’s leading scorer in both 1938 and 1939, and his goals were central to the club winning the league title in 1938–39, a season in which he scored 35 goals in 38 games. He was at the peak of his powers when league football was suspended for the duration of the Second World War, which cost him several of what would have been his best years.

He joined Chelsea in November 1945 and scored a club-record 26 league goals in the 1946–47 season, before making one of the most talked-about transfers in the English game. In late 1947 he moved to Third Division South club Notts County for a British record fee, and he repaid them by leading the club to promotion as champions in 1949–50. He later played for Brentford and Arsenal before winding down his career.

For England, Lawton won 23 caps and scored 22 goals between 1938 and 1948, a remarkable ratio, and he added many more goals in wartime internationals that fell outside the official record. He moved into management after retiring, died in 1996 at the age of 77, and his ashes are held at the National Football Museum.

Career Honours

• First Division champion, 1939
• First Division top scorer, 1938 and 1939
• Third Division South champion, 1950
• 23 England caps, 22 goals
• English Football Hall of Fame, 2003

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Tommy Lawton – Rookie Cards and Significant Others

Because Lawton was already a star before the Second World War, his card record begins earlier than most of his contemporaries, with pre-war cigarette issues as well as the post-war trade and confectionery cards of the late 1940s.

One of Lawton’s earliest catalogued issues is the 1937 Topical Times Triple Portraits, a large-format Topical Times issue produced soon after his move to Everton rather than a standard small card.

From there he features in several of the classic pre-war tobacco sets, before a second wave of issues followed the resumption of football, making the late 1930s and late 1940s the two richest periods for collecting his cards.

Key cards across his career:

• 1937 Topical Times Triple Portraits #NNO — early large-format Topical Times issue
• 1938 Churchman’s Association Footballers 1st Series #23 — pre-war cigarette card
• 1939 R & J Hill Famous Footballers Series 1 #37 — pre-war cigarette card
• 1939–40 Wills’s Association Footballers #28 — pre-war tobacco issue
• 1947 Daily Express Famous Footballers #5 — first major post-war issue
• 1948 Turf Cigarettes Footballers #4 — post-war cigarette card
• 1949–50 Barratt & Co. Famous Footballers #NNO — post-war confectionery trade card

See the 2003 Hall of Fame Inductees or browse the full list.