| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Younger[1][2] | ||
| Date of birth | (1930-04-10)10 April 1930[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland[1] | ||
| Date of death | 13 January 1984(1984-01-13) (aged 53)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| – | Hutchison Vale | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1948–1956 | Hibernian | 181 | (0) |
| 1956–1959 | Liverpool | 120 | (0) |
| 1959–1960 | Falkirk | 6 | (0) |
| 1960 | Stoke City | 10 | (0) |
| 1960–1961 | Rhyl | ||
| 1961 | Toronto City | 23 | (0) |
| 1961–1963 | Leeds United | 37 | (0) |
| Total | 377 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1955–1958 | Scotland | 24 | (0) |
| 1955[3] | Scottish Football League XI | 4 | (0) |
| 1958[4] | SFA trial v SFL | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1959–1960 | Falkirk[5] | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Thomas Younger (10 April 1930 – 13 January 1984) was a Scottishfootballer who played as agoalkeeper forHibernian,Liverpool,Falkirk,Leeds United,Stoke City and theScotland national team.[1]
Born inEdinburgh, Scotland, Younger signed for his hometown clubHibernian in 1948. He was part of the successful side of the early 50s, winning two titles in1950–51 and1951–52.
Liverpool managerPhil Taylor signed Younger in June 1956 for £9000. He made his debut atAnfield on 18 August 1956 in a league match againstHuddersfield Town. Huddersfield spoilt Younger's day by taking both points from a 3–2 win. He kept his first clean-sheet two games later atGigg Lane as the Reds beatBury 2–0. Younger immediately took over the No.1 jersey atAnfield and played in 43 of Liverpool's 45 matches in his first season. Younger spent three years at Liverpool, only missing six matches during this time making a total of 127 appearances. In 1959, he was allowed to leave to take on a player/manager role in Scotland.
Younger joinedFalkirk as player manager in 1959. A back injury led to his retirement as a player.
After finding out that the injury was not as bad as first diagnosed, he signed forStoke City in 1960.[1] Younger played ten league games for Stoke towards the end of the1959–60 season.[1] He endured a difficult time playing in a struggling side at theVictoria Ground. In his ten matches Stoke lost nine of them with Younger conceding 22 goals. He was released at the end of the season.[1]
He played three matches for Welsh league sideRhyl beforeLeeds United managerDon Revie, who was bringing experienced players to cope with declining fortunes at the club, signed Younger in 1961. He made 42 appearances for Leeds in 13 months before retiring for a second (and final) time in October 1962. In 1961, he played in theEastern Canada Professional Soccer League withToronto City.[6]
Younger wascapped byScotland 24 times, in an unbroken sequence spanning three years.[7] He made his debut on 4 May 1955 in a friendly international againstPortugal atHampden Park, Glasgow.[7] The Scots were too strong for theirIberian counterparts, winning the game 3–0 and thus gaining Younger his first clean-sheet at national level. Younger also had the honour of keeping goal for the Scottish side during the1958 World Cup in Sweden. His appearance at the finals againstParaguay was also his last appearance for the national side.[7]
After his retirement he stayed on at Leeds as a scout. He then took a coaching role in Canada at Toronto City.[8]
After his stint inToronto he returned to Hibs as this time as director. Younger became vice president of theScottish Football Association toWillie Harkness taking over as president after Harkness retired from that in May 1983. Younger held the position until his death eight months later on 13 January 1984, aged 53.[9][7] He was survived by his wife, Mary, three daughters and a son.[7]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hibernian | 1948–49 | Scottish First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 1949–50 | Scottish First Division | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | 39 | 0 | ||
| 1950–51 | Scottish First Division | 29 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 45 | 0 | ||
| 1951–52 | Scottish First Division | 24 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | ||
| 1952–53 | Scottish First Division | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 0 | |
| 1953–54 | Scottish First Division | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| 1954–55 | Scottish First Division | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| 1955–56 | Scottish First Division | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 41 | 0 | |
| Total | 181 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 254 | 0 | ||
| Liverpool | 1956–57 | Second Division | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 41 | 0 | |
| 1957–58 | Second Division | 39 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | ||
| 1958–59 | Second Division | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | ||
| Total | 120 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 127 | 0 | |||
| Falkirk | 1959–60 | Scottish Second Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| Stoke City | 1959–60 | Second Division | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |
| Leeds United | 1961–62 | Second Division | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | |
| 1962–63 | Second Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | |||
| Career Total | 354 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 51 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 439 | 0 | ||
Source:[11]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1955 | 6 | 0 |
| 1956 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1957 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1958 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 0 | |
