Weldon Tony Image 1 Everton 1928

Description

Croy, Inverness born inside left Tony Weldon started his football career with Croy Celtic in 1922 and played for  Kilsyth Rangers in 1923 from where he was signed by Scottish League club Airdrieonians in December 1924 for a transfer fee of £5. At Broomfield Park, such were his performances that he found himself picked for the first team when each of their Scottish international players, Willie Russell and Hughie Gallacher moved on, initially at inside left and subsequently at centre forward.

He was part of the side that finished runners up in the Scottish League Championship two years running, in 1924-25 (4 appearances) and 1925-26 (19 appearances and 4 goals), and at centre forward, Hughie Gallacher having joined Newcastle United, scored 26 goals in 26 appearances as the club finished fourth in 1926-27.

In March 1927 he was signed by First Division club Everton for a transfer fee of £2,000, making his Football League debut against Leeds United the same month, scoring along with Dixie Dean as Everton won 2-1, helping Everton to escape the clutches of relegation as they finished 20th in the League. The following season he missed only four matches as Everton won the League Championship, scoring 7 goals in the campaign, but having played in the FA Charity Shield win over Blackburn Rovers in October 1928 he lost his place the next month and only played 8 more matches for Everton before joining Third Division (North) club Hull City for £1,000 in June 1930 after 13 goals in 74 appearances for The Toffees.

He had a single season with The Tigers, scoring 6 times in 32 appearances, before he returned to the top flight, joining West Ham United in June 1931. However they were relegated at the end of the 1931-32 season Weldon having scored 4 times in 22 appearances. He joined the Monmouthshire club Lovell’s Athletic, then playing in the Western League in the 1932 close season before returning to Football League action, via a brief spell with League of Ireland club Dolphin, signing for Rochdale in July 1933.

The next season proved his last in English football, scoring 7 goals in 28 games for ‘Dale, and he spent the rest of the 1930’s, before his eventual retirement, in Irish League football with spells as player-coach at Dundalk, two spells at each of Bangor (where he became player-manager in late 1934) and Distillery, and finally Larne who he joined in 1938. While at Distillery he represented The Irish League in a 3-2 defeat to The Scottish League at Windsor Park, Belfast in October 1935. With his Irish clubs he became one of the very few players to play for clubs in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Eire.

He was the father-in-law of Jim Storrie, who played at centre forward for Airdrieonians, Leeds United, Aberdeen, Rotherham and Portsmouth in the 1960’s and was a star player with Leeds in their great 1960’s teams.