Thomas Brindle

Thomas Brindle was born in Darwen in 1861, He had been a member of the FA Cup quarter final and semi-final teams of 1879 and 1881 beaten by eventual winners Old Etonians (2-6) and Old Carthusians (4-1), In March 1880 he became the first Darwen FC player to represent England, Having successfully negotiated his way through a North v South trail match at the Oval on the 6th March, he made his debut in a friendly game against Scotland, played in Glasgow on the 13th March 1880.
In the book "An English football Internationals Who's Who" Written by Douglas Lamming, he discribes the Darwen left full-back as: "a powerful strong kicking back and a real workhorse".
The game against Scotland ended in a 5-4 victory for the Scots ( the most goals England have ever scored in a game and lost ) but two days later England were victorious when they met Wales in Wrexham and beat them 3-2 Thomas Brindle not only played in this game but scored the winning goal as well! -- He is the 17th youngest player ever to represent England at full international level.
By the time Darwen joined the Football League in 1891 Thomas had moved to West Bromwich Albion.

Below shows the 22 youngest players ever to represent England at full International Level
with Thomas listed in 17th place.
# Please note the list below is taken with permission from the England Football Online website: www.englandfootballonline.com

 

Last Revised 28 June 2004

England's Youngest Players England's Youngest Players Player Club Birthdate Match Date Opponent Age Wayne Rooney Everton 24-Oct-1985 12-Feb-2003 Australia 17 yrs. 111 days James F. M. Prinsep Clapham Rovers 27-Jul-1861 05-Apr-1879 Scotland 17 yrs. 253 days Thurston "Tot" Rostron Darwen 21-Apr-1863 26-Feb-1881 Wales 17 yrs. 312 days Clement Mitchell Upton Park 20-Feb-1862 15-Mar-1880 Wales 18 yrs. 24 days Michael J. Owen Liverpool 14-Dec-1979 11-Feb-1998 Chile 18 yrs. 59 days Duncan Edwards Manchester United 01-Oct-1936 02-Apr-1955 Scotland 18 yrs. 184 days James Brown Blackburn Rovers 31-Jul-1862 26-Feb-1881 Wales 18 yrs. 211 days Arthur S. Brown Sheffield United 06-Apr-1885 29-Feb-1904 Wales 18 yrs. 330 days Rio G. Ferdinand West Ham United 07-Nov-1978 15-Nov-1997 Cameroon 19 yrs. 8 days Thomas Lawton Everton 06-Oct-1919 22-Oct-1938 Wales 19yrs Albert Geldard Everton 11-Apr-1914 13-May-1933 Italy 19yrs Charles H. Holden-White Corinthians __-___-1869 04-Feb-1888 Wales 19yrs William H. Mosforth Sheffield Wednesday __-___-1858 03-Mar-1877 Scotland 19yrs Henry E. Lilley Sheffield United __-___-1873 05-Mar-1892 Wales 19yrs Gareth Barry Aston Villa 23-Feb-1981 31-May-2000 Ukraine 19yrs William I. Bassett West Bromwich Albion 27-Jan-1869 07-Apr-1888 Ireland 19yrs Thomas Brindle Darwen __-___-1861 13-Mar-1880 Scotland 19yrs James P. Greaves Chelsea 20-Feb-1940 17-May-1959 Peru 19yrs Harold Morse Notts County __-___-1879 05-Apr-1879 Scotland 19/20yrs Joseph H. Baker Hibernian, Scotland 17-Jul-1940 18-Nov-1959 Northern Ireland 19yrs Glen Johnson Chelsea 23-Aug-1984 16-Nov-2003 Denmark 19yrs Jermaine Jenas Newcastle United 18-Feb-1983 12-Feb-2003 Australia 19yrs

Below is Thomas Brindle's International Details:

13-3-1880
Location ....... Glasgow
Competition ........ Friendly
Fixture ........ Scotland v England
Result ....... 5-4
Scotland Scorers ........... Ker (3), J Baird, Kay
England Scorers ............ Mosforth, Bambridge (2),Sparks
Team.
Swepstone (Pilgrims),
Brindle (Darwen),
Luntley (Nottingham Forest),
Bailey (Clapham Rovers),
Hunter (Sheffield Heeley),
Wollaston (Wanderers),
Bastard (Upton Park),
Sparks (Hertfordshire Rangers),
Widdowson (Nottingham Forest),
Mosforth (Sheffield Albion),
Bambridge EC (Swifts).

SCOTLAND: Archibald Rowan (1/Glasgow Caledonian) - Alexander McLintock (3/Vale of Leven) Robert W. Neill (Captain) (5/Queen's Park) - Charles Campbell (7/Queen's Park) John Campbell McLeod McPherson (3/Vale of Leven) John Smith (5/Edinburgh university) - Moses McLay McNiel (2/Rangers) George Ker (1/Queen's Park) John C. McGregor (4/Vale of Leven) John Campbell Baird (3/Vale of Leven) John Leck Kay (1/Queen's Park)

15-3-1880
Location ......... Wrexham
Competition ...... Friendly
Fixture ............. Wales v England
Result ............. 2-3
Wales Scorers ................ J Roberts (I), W Roberts (I)
England Scorers ............. Sparks (2), Brindle
Team
Sands (Nottingham Forest),
Brindle (Darwen),
Luntley (Nottingham Forest),
Bailey (Clapham Rovers),
Hunter (Sheffield Heeley),
Wollaston (Wanderers),
Bastard (Upton Park),
Sparks (Hertfordshire Rangers),
Widdowson (Nottingham Forest),
Mosforth (Sheffield Albion),
Bambridge EC (Swifts).