Tommy Meade

Fulham info
Tommy Meade

Full name	Thomas George Meade
Date of birth	14 May 1877
Place of birth	Plumstead, Greenwich, London, England
Date of death	2 Jun 1949
Place of death	Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
Height	5ft 11in (1.80m)
Playing position	Centre forward, Inside forward
Current player?
Debut	Clapton Orient (h) (22 Dec 1900)
Last Appearance	Brentford (h) (16 Apr 1904)
First goal	Clapton Orient (h) (22 Dec 1900)
Last goal	Brentford (a) (4 Apr 1904)
Joined from	Tottenham, Dec 1900
Left for	unknown, Sept 1905
League apps (gls)	42 (28)
All apps (gls)	97 (70)
Other clubs	Woolwich Arsenal (1893-97) Tottenham (1897-00)
International	n/a
Apps (gls)	n/a

Tommy Meade was a centre forward formerly of Fulham. A natural goalscorer, he became a pivotal figure in the Southern League Second Division title winning teams of 1901-02 and 1902-03. An explosive centre forward on the pitch but quiet off of it, Tommy was prolific in his finishing.

Career[]

Before Fulham[]

Tommy Meade started his career as an amateur with Woolwich Arsenal in 1893 and stayed with that club for three and a half years, becoming a noted goal-scorer within that period before signing as a professional in 1894. With his reputation preceding him, Tom signed for Tottenham in the summer of 1897 and was fast-tracked straight into the first team, but unfortunately, his presence in the side was short-lived thanks to the South London side making "exorbitant demands". With Bill Joyce stepping into the gap left by Meade, he established himself in the Tottenham team and Meade was then always regarded as cover for that position. Tom's stay at White Hart Lane was two seasons long, with only a handful of games played within that time, before Spurs let him go in 1899.

Fulham (1900-1905)[]

He signed terms with Fulham in the 1900-01 season, and began to make an impression immediately, as he scored a brace on debut against Clapton Orient. Mainly used as a centre forward, he was occasionally used as an inside forward and on one occasion in the London League he even played as an outside left against West Ham's Reserves. He won Southern League Division Two medals in 1902 and 1903, yet Fulham managed to lose both of the play-off finals in those years.

On 27 December 1902 in a Southern League match away at Grays United, Tommy had arrived at the ground without his boots and had to rush out to buy a pair - however, he must have bought a good pair as he scored all four goals in a 4-1 victory. According to the Grays & Tilbury Gazette, upon the final whistle the Fulham fans "rushed onto the field in a body and chaired Tommy into the dressing room". Unfortunately, his goals would not count as the match later had to be replayed (which they later lost) due to Fulham fielding an ineligible player by the name of Easter.

His goalscoring record at the club was impressive, and possibly would have stayed at the club longer had it not been for the large intake of players for the 1903-04 season. Tommy was in fact one of only three players to remain in the squad from the previous season, so much was the change of personnel. Due to this, Tommy only managed 7 Southern League appearances in that season, and no first team appearances the following season yet stayed at the club until 1905.

After Fulham[]

Not much is known about what happened to Tommy after he left Fulham, we can assume he played for another club in England barring a career-ending injury, as he would have been 28 by the time he had left in the summer of 1905.

Tommy, with wife Kate, sons Thomas and Leonard and daughter Violet sailed on the SS Corinthic for New Zealand on 25 July 1907, arriving in Wellington on 11 September 1907. He then moved to Ward in Marlborough for approximately eight years, returning to Wellington in 1915. He had eight children and died in Wellington on 2 June 1949 at the age of 72.

Fulham Statistics[]

Appearances[]

Season	League	League		FA Cup		London League Premier Division		London League Division One		Western League		Total
Season	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1900-01	Southern League Division Two	9	8	0	0	-	-	8	8	-	-	17	16
1901-02	Southern League Division Two	16	13	2	2	-	-	16	14	-	-	34	29
1902-03	Southern League Division Two	10	6	8	9	-	-	17	3	-	-	35	18
1903-04	Southern League Division One	7	1	2	4	2	2	-	-	-	-	11	7
1904-05	Southern League Division One	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	0	0	0	0
	Total	42	28	12	15	2	2	41	25	0	0	97	70

Fulham Matches[]

#	Season	Date	Comp	Opposition	Venue	Result	Score	Additional Information
1	1900-01	22 Dec 1900	LL1	Clapton Orient	Home	Won	3-1	,
2	1900-01	26 Dec 1900	SL2	Shepherd's Bush	Home	Lost	0-3
3	1900-01	29 Dec 1900	LL1	Wandsworth	Home	Won	4-0
4	1900-01	5 Jan 1901	LL1	QPR Res.	Away	Lost	0-1
5	1900-01	26 Jan 1901	LL1	Clapton Orient	Away	Drew	1-1
6	1900-01	9 Feb 1901	SL2	Sheppey Utd	Away	Lost	0-2
7	1900-01	16 Feb 1901	SL2	Grays Utd	Home	Lost	0-2
8	1900-01	23 Feb 1901	SL2	Chesham	Home	Won	5-2	,
9	1900-01	2 Mar 1901	SL2	Brentford	Away	Lost	1-5
10	1900-01	16 Mar 1901	SL2	Wycombe	Home	Won	5-0
11	1900-01	23 Mar 1901	LL1	Lower Clapton	Away	Won	6-1	,
12	1900-01	30 Mar 1901	SL2	Sheppey Utd	Home	Won	3-0
13	1900-01	5 Apr 1901	SL2	Shepherd's Bush	Away	Won	3-0
14	1900-01	6 Apr 1901	LL1	Tottenham Res.	Home	Won	5-2	,
15	1900-01	8 Apr 1901	LL1	Millwall Res.	Home	Drew	1-1
16	1900-01	13 Apr 1901	LL1	QPR Res.	Home	Lost	0-1
17	1900-01	18 Apr 1901	SL2	Maidenhead	Home	Won	9-0	, ,
18	1900-01	27 Apr 1901	LL1	West Ham Res.	Home	Lost	0-1

Editing in progress

External links and references[]

Template:1900-01 squad Template:1901-02 squad Template:1902-03 squad Template:1903-04 squad