Tommy Widdrington

Football player infobox
playername = Tommy Widdrington


fullname = Thomas Widdrington
height = 5 ft 9 in
weight =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1971|10|1
cityofbirth = Newcastle upon Tyne
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Salisbury City
clubnumber = 13
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1987-1990
youthclubs = Southampton
years = 1990-1996 1991 1996-1999 1999-2001 2001-2003 2003-2005 2005 2005-
clubs = Southampton Wigan Athletic loan Grimsby Town Port Vale Hartlepool United Macclesfield Town Port Vale Salisbury City
caps(goals) = 75 (3) 06 (0) 89 (8) 82 (8) 56 (5) 58 (0) 06 (0) 46 (2)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Thomas “Tommy” Widdrington born Newcastle upon Tyne, 1 October 1971, is a midfield footballer, who started his career at Southampton in the English Football Premiership, and is now player-coach at Salisbury City in the Conference South.

outhampton

Tommy started his career as a Southampton trainee and signed a professional contract in May 1990. After a brief period on loan at Wigan, he made his debut for Southampton at Everton on 1 March 1992.

He was a tough, no-nonsense midfield player who survived some frantic managerial comings and goings to carve out a respectable premiership career over a four year period for Southampton. He was combative, energetic and a thoroughly useful man to have in the squad, as he looked comfortable wherever he found himself on the pitch.

He was not far short of making 100 appearances in total when, in July 1996, Grimsby came in with an offer of £300,000 – as Saints had yet another new manager in Graeme Souness. Tommy decided to accept their terms.

Grimsby Town

Widdrington did well for Grimsby despite a lot of injury trouble and scored a fantastic goal against Southend United on the last day of the 1996-97 season striking it from 35 yards out. He was involved in controversy during the same match, however, when he snatched a banner from Grimsby fans protesting against the club chairman and threw it to the ground. Some supporters felt he never justified the club record fee paid for him, though he remained a fixture in the first team throughout changes of management.

Widdrington played his last game for Grimsby towards the end of the 1998-99 season when he was loaned out to Port Vale for the final 3 months of the season. His loan spell at Vale ended in controversy when he was sent off in their final game of the season.

Port Vale

At the end of the season Port Vale signed Widdrington (now out of contract, and transfer–listed) on a free transfer.

Once again Tommy was in hot water when he was sent off on his full debut for Vale, after just two minutes thanks to a terrible tackle on Birmingham's Gary Rowett. After that though, Widdrington brushed up his act and impressed so much he won the Supporters` Player of the Year award for the 1999-00 season.

Tommy was made club-captain for the 2000-01 season, even scoring his first goal for the club against Brentford.

Tommy played probably the best football of his career at Port Vale, and made just over 80 appearances for Vale, before being released at the end of the 2000-01 season.

Hartlepool, Macclesfield & Port Vale again

Tommy then moved north and joined up with Hartlepool United; he was a regular for the club and earned promotion to Division 2 with the club in the 2002-03 season, his last year with them.

Widdrington made his next port of call at Macclesfield Town after being released by Hartlepool. Tommy settled in quickly and became an indispensable player for the Division 3 strugglers.

In January 2005, Tommy decided to call it a day at Macclesfield and in a twist, joined former club Port Vale on a non-contract basis.

He played on his 92nd Football League ground (Stockport County's) three games prior to joining Salisbury.

alisbury City

The midfield general, who is now head of coaching at Salisbury City, left the Football League to sign for the Whites in February 2005.

His capture from Port Vale has been an integral part of the club’s development under manager Nick Holmes, helping the club to the highest point in its history.

On 8 September 2007 Widdrington was involved in a touchline incident with Rushden & Diamonds boss Garry Hill. The pair began arguing and Hill headbutted Widdrington breaking his nose. Both men received fines from their clubs and Hill was also given a 10 match touchline ban and a hefty fine of £1,500. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_conf/6986110.stm "Rushden boss fined by FA"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 December, 2007] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rushden_and_diamonds/7152640.stm "Rushden manager fined for attack"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 December, 2007]

Honours won in the game

Three promotions, plus won LDV Vans Trophy with Port Vale at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, back to back promotions through Southern League (champions) and Conference South (play off winners) to Conference National with Salisbury City.

References

External links

*soccerbase|name=8494|name=Tommy Widdrington