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Thomas Curley (born 11 June 1945) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who played as an outside right. As a footballer, he made over 90 appearances in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra and Brentford and as a politician he was a member of the Scottish Labour Party for 30 years, before spending his final year in office (2016 to 2017) as an independent councillor outside the party.[2][3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Curley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 11 June 1945 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Outside right | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1960 | Portsmouth | ||
| 1960–1964 | Celtic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1964–1965 | Celtic | 1 | (0) |
| 1965–1967 | Brentford | 40 | (6) |
| 1967–1969 | Crewe Alexandra | 52 | (7) |
| 1969 | Hamilton Academical | 4 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Celtic
An outside right, Curley began his career in the youth system at Portsmouth in 1960, but suffered with homesickness and transferred to Celtic in his home city after just a few months.[4] He had to wait until September 1964 to make his senior debut, which came in a 4–2 defeat to Heart of Midlothian on 26 September 1964.[5] It proved to be Curley's only appearance for the Bhoys and he departed Celtic Park in September 1965.[4]
Brentford
Curley moved to England to sign for Third Division strugglers Brentford on a one-month trial in September 1965.[3] He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Gillingham on 30 October 1965 and impressed enough during his trial to win a contract.[3][6] He failed to make a breakthrough into the first team during the 1965–66 season and made just 14 appearances as the Bees suffered relegation to the Fourth Division.[6] He improved his appearance tally in the basement and made 27 appearances during the 1966–67 season.[6] The stricken club's dire financial situation saw Curley released in 1967 as a result of cost-cutting measures.[3] He made 41 appearances and scored 6 goals during his two seasons with Brentford.[3]
Crewe Alexandra
Curley moved to Fourth Division club Crewe Alexandra in August 1967.[1] Though he made just 19 appearances, he was part of the team which secured automatic promotion to the Third Division at the end of the 1967–68 season.[7] He broke into the team on a regular basis in the following season and made 33 appearances and scored seven goals, as Alex pushed for a second successive promotion.[7] Curley left Gresty Road in August 1969 and made 52 league appearances and scored seven goals in his two seasons with Alex.[1]
Hamilton Academical
Curley moved back to Scotland to sign for Second Division club Hamilton Academical on 16 August 1969.[8] He made just five appearances before being released.[9]
Curley had a spell as chairman of Central Scottish Amateur League Premier Division club Bankhall Villa.[10] The club won the 1992–93 Scottish Amateur Cup under his chairmanship.[10]
Curley was a member of the Scottish Labour Party for 30 years and until 2017,[2] was a councillor, latterly for the Airdrie South ward.[10] He held positions of Junior Whip, Deputy Provost and Provost.[10] He was provost of North Lanarkshire until May 2012.[11] He resigned from the Scottish Labour Party in October 2016 and became an independent councillor, not standing for re-election in the 2017 North Lanarkshire Council election.[2]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 1964–65[4] | Scottish First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brentford | 1965–66[6] | Third Division | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 2 | |
| 1966–67[6] | Fourth Division | 26 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 4 | |
| Total | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 6 | ||
| Hamilton Academical | 1969–70[9] | Scottish Second Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Career total | 45 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 6 | ||
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