For the Irish barrister and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, see Thomas Waring.
Thomas Waring (12 October 1906 – 20 December 1980) was an English professional association footballer. Nicknamed "Pongo" after a famous cartoon of the time called Pongo the Pup,[2] Waring is one of Aston Villa's all-time great centre forwards. In his career, he scored 243 league goals in 363 matches over 12 seasons for 5 different clubs.
Thomas Waring was born on 12 October 1906 at 4 Chapel Place in Higher Tranmere. He was the third child (out of 4) of Henry Arthur and Charlotte Waring. The Waring family lived at 15 Walker Place, which was a ten-minute walk from Tranmere Rovers' ground.[3]
Careeredit
Tom played for quite a few junior teams in the Tranmere area before catching the eye of the legendary Rovers scout Jack Lee. Lee offered Waring a place in the Tranmere reserves and a casual job helping out on matchdays. Tom would sell cigarettes and chocolate to the fans in the stands as well as help in preparing the ground for matches before he was handed a professional contract. He signed for Tranmere in 1926 at the relatively late age of 20 and made his debut on August 29, 1927 away to Rotherham United.[3] He scored 23 goals in 24 games, including 6 goals in an 11–1 victory against Durham City in January 1928 which brought him to the attention of First Division clubs. He moved to Aston Villa for £4,700 in 1928.[4]
Aston Villaedit
A crowd of 23,000 saw him play on his Villa debut in a reserve game against local rivals Birmingham City, in which he scored a first half hat-trick.
His 226 appearances for Villa yielded 167 goals, including 10 hat-tricks and a club record 49 league goals in the 1930–31 season, 50 goals in all competitions. He is considered an Aston Villa legend, a reputation buoyed by his likeable personality as discussed by Villa's captain of the day, Billy Walker. In Walker's autobiography, he wrote:
There were no rules for Pongo. Nobody knew what time he would turn up for training—ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock, it made no odds. Nobody on the staff could do anything with him although I think I can claim, as the captain in his days, to be the only person able to handle him. He was a funny lad indeed. We started the weeks training on Tuesday mornings and every Tuesday he followed a habit which he could never break. He would go round all the refreshment bars on the ground and finish off the lemonade customers, storing the remains in the bottles! Then he would start a little of his training—but that seldom lasted very long.
Over 6ft tall and tough as teak, his goal dashes were electrifying and if he could not get adequate service from his wings he went out and got the ball himself. He would streak his way through opposing defences, and then turn around grinning all over his face!
During the time of Eric Cantona's altercation with a fan, an Olton pensioner stated that Waring - "Picked the ball up then he jumped into the crowd and gave him a thump"[5]
Whilst playing football, Waring also worked for The Hercules Motor and Cycle Company in Aston.
^"Visitors Score Ten Goals". Formby Times. 13 April 1946.
^"All you need to know about Villa legend Pongo Waring". 27 March 2021.
External linksedit
Aston Villa career details at Aston Villa Players Database
Tom Waring at Englandstats.com
November 23, 2023
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For the Irish barrister and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom see Thomas Waring This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tom Waring news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2014 template removal help Thomas Waring 12 October 1906 20 December 1980 was an English professional association footballer Nicknamed Pongo after a famous cartoon of the time called Pongo the Pup 2 Waring is one of Aston Villa s all time great centre forwards In his career he scored 243 league goals in 363 matches over 12 seasons for 5 different clubs Tom WaringWaring in 1927Personal informationFull nameThomas WaringDate of birth 1906 10 12 12 October 1906Place of birthBirkenhead EnglandDate of death20 December 1980 1980 12 20 aged 74 Position s Centre forwardSenior career YearsTeamApps Gls 1926 1928Tranmere Rovers24 23 1928 1935Aston Villa216 159 1935 1936Barnsley18 7 1936Wolverhampton Wanderers10 3 1936 1938Tranmere Rovers74 42 1938Accrington Stanley22 10 1938 1939Bath City1939Ellesmere Port Town1939Graysons1939Birkenhead Docks1939Harrowby1939 1940New Brighton0 0 1941 1942Everton3 1 1 1946Ellesmere Port TownTotal367 245 International career1931 1932England5 4 Club domestic league appearances and goals Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Aston Villa 2 2 Later clubs 3 International career 4 Death 5 References 6 External linksEarly life editThomas Waring was born on 12 October 1906 at 4 Chapel Place in Higher Tranmere He was the third child out of 4 of Henry Arthur and Charlotte Waring The Waring family lived at 15 Walker Place which was a ten minute walk from Tranmere Rovers ground 3 Career editTom played for quite a few junior teams in the Tranmere area before catching the eye of the legendary Rovers scout Jack Lee Lee offered Waring a place in the Tranmere reserves and a casual job helping out on matchdays Tom would sell cigarettes and chocolate to the fans in the stands as well as help in preparing the ground for matches before he was handed a professional contract He signed for Tranmere in 1926 at the relatively late age of 20 and made his debut on August 29 1927 away to Rotherham United 3 He scored 23 goals in 24 games including 6 goals in an 11 1 victory against Durham City in January 1928 which brought him to the attention of First Division clubs He moved to Aston Villa for 4 700 in 1928 4 Aston Villa edit A crowd of 23 000 saw him play on his Villa debut in a reserve game against local rivals Birmingham City in which he scored a first half hat trick His 226 appearances for Villa yielded 167 goals including 10 hat tricks and a club record 49 league goals in the 1930 31 season 50 goals in all competitions He is considered an Aston Villa legend a reputation buoyed by his likeable personality as discussed by Villa s captain of the day Billy Walker In Walker s autobiography he wrote There were no rules for Pongo Nobody knew what time he would turn up for training ten o clock eleven o clock twelve o clock it made no odds Nobody on the staff could do anything with him although I think I can claim as the captain in his days to be the only person able to handle him He was a funny lad indeed We started the weeks training on Tuesday mornings and every Tuesday he followed a habit which he could never break He would go round all the refreshment bars on the ground and finish off the lemonade customers storing the remains in the bottles Then he would start a little of his training but that seldom lasted very long The Birmingham Daily Gazette described Pongo in his heyday at Villa 4 Over 6ft tall and tough as teak his goal dashes were electrifying and if he could not get adequate service from his wings he went out and got the ball himself He would streak his way through opposing defences and then turn around grinning all over his face During the time of Eric Cantona s altercation with a fan an Olton pensioner stated that Waring Picked the ball up then he jumped into the crowd and gave him a thump 5 Whilst playing football Waring also worked for The Hercules Motor and Cycle Company in Aston Later clubs edit In November 1935 Waring went to Barnsley angering many Villa fans and prompting 5 000 of them to call for his return to the club After a spell at Barnsley Waring also played for Wolverhampton Wanderers Tranmere Rovers for a second time Accrington Stanley Bath City Ellesmere Port Town Graysons Birkenhead Docks and Harrowby He guested for New Brighton in 1939 40 and after the war he returned for a second spell with Ellesmere Port Town 6 International career editWaring was also capped five times by England scoring four goals between 1931 and 1932 7 Death editWaring died in December 1980 at the age of 74 His ashes were scattered in the Holte End goal mouth before a game against Stoke City References edit Everton Results THE ADVENTURES OF PONGO THE PUP British Pathe a b Bowman Jamie 1 May 2023 Erling Haland equals goal record of Birkenhead s Pongo Waring Wirral Globe Retrieved 8 May 2023 a b Birmingham Daily Gazette Thursday 05 March 1953 p 7 Solihull Times 17 Feb 1995 p 22 Visitors Score Ten Goals Formby Times 13 April 1946 All you need to know about Villa legend Pongo Waring 27 March 2021 External links editAston Villa career details at Aston Villa Players Database Tom Waring at Englandstats com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tom Waring amp oldid 1169155863, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
