Wyllie Tom Image 1 Bury 1896

Description

Maybole, Ayrshire born winger Tom Wyllie began his football career with Maybole in 1887 and joined Glasgow Rangers in 1888, scoring on his Rangers debut in a 4-2 win over Partick Thistle in a Scottish Cup tie in September 1888. While with Rangers he won his only international cap for Scotland when he scored in a 4-1 victory over Ireland at Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast in March 1890. He had played four times for Rangers in the inaugural season of the Scottish League in the autumn of 1890 when he signed for Everton in November 1890, having also scored 5 goals in 7 Scottish Cup ties and scored 11 times in 11 other Cup (mainly Glasgow Cup) games for The Gers.

He made his Football League debut at Wolverhampton Wanderers in December 1890 in a 1-0 victory for Everton, helping them win the League Championship with four goals in four appearances before the end of the season, all four goals coming in his second match in a 6-2 thrashing of Derby County at The County Ground a week later, but (possibly through injury) he lost his place before the end of the year. He was a regular feature in 1891-92, scoring once for The Toffees in 18 appearances during the campaign, before remaining at Anfield at the end of the season, joining newly formed Liverpool who took over the ground, Everton moving to Goodison Park.

Wyllie scored almost in every other game in the Lancashire League and a total of five in three FA Cup games in the 1892-93 season. When the first derby between Everton and Liverpool took place in the Liverpool Senior Cup Final, Wyllie, scored the game’s only goal against his former club on 22nd April 1893. The Merseyside teams were still at odds after John Houlding quit Everton and formed Liverpool a year earlier. Liverpool were subsequently elected to the Second Division after winning the Lancashire League, but Wyllie left having scored 15 goals in 25 matches for The Reds.

He joined Lancashire League Bury, and had a season in their Lancashire League side, finishing as runners up, before they were elected to The Football League. In their first season they won the Second Division Championship, Wyllie being ever present and scoring 7 goals. Fate would have it that Bury’s opponents in the Test Match in which the bottom club of the First Division played the Second Division Champions would be between Bury and Wyllie’s old club, Liverpool. Bury won 1-0 and Wyllie played two seasons in First Division before moving to Southern League Bristol City in the 1897 close season after 18 goals in 81 appearances for Bury during their League era. Bristol City proved his final club before his retirement from the game.