Griffiths Tom Image 11 Aston Villa 1936

Description

Centre half Tom Griffiths was born in Moss Valley, Wrexham. He started in local junior football with Ffrith Valley in 1921 and Wrexham Boys Club in 1922 before joining hometown professional club Wrexham in 1922, for whom he made his Football League debut at Tranmere Rovers in March 1923 aged just over 17. He was a fringe player initially, breaking into the team more regularly from early 1926, and by December 1926 he had been signed by First Division Everton after 2 goals in 39 appearances. He made his Wales debut against England in February 1927 and went on to win 21 caps for his country over the next 10 years, scoring 3 times for his country.

He took until October 1928 to establish himself in the Everton first team, and although they were relegated in 1929-30, he played 23 games as they won the Second Division Championship in 1931. In the summer of 1931 Griffiths was sold to Bolton Wanderers after 9 goals in 79 appearances, and he stayed two seasons at Burnden Park, leaving after their relegation in 1933 to join Middlesbrough having scored 8 goals in 53 appearances. He became club captain at Middlesbrough and by the time he signed for Aston Villa in November 1935 he’d scored once in 92 appearances for ‘Boro.

However his spell at Villa brought his third relegation of his career as they went down at the end of the season, he stayed with them for a season in the Second Division before re-joining Wrexham in 1938 after a single goal in 67 appearances wearing claret and blue. At Wrexham he finished his professional career making 10 more appearances in 1938-39 before his retirement.