Former Player Remembers: Tom Sweenie

When he spoke to Club Historian John Hutchinson, he recalled a career which was cruelly cut short by injury at a time when he was undoubtedly one of the most talented young footballers in the old First Division.

Thinking back to the start of his career, Tom began: “I was spotted as a 16 year-old playing for the Scottish semi-professional club Johnstone Burgh by the same Leicester City scout who had sent another Johnstone Burgh player, Frank McLintock, to Leicester a few years earlier.

“He told (manager) Matt Gillies to move quickly as Liverpool were interested in signing me. So Leicester invited me, my father and my team manager to the 1963 FA Cup Final when they played Manchester United. I didn’t know where Leicester was but I‘d heard of their internationals like Gordon Banks, Frank McLintock and Davie Gibson. They were top of the league and were playing in the cup final so I thought that Leicester City must be some team! 

“Then we went to the post-final banquet at the Dorchester Hotel. I’d been brought up on beans and toast! They introduced me to the President of Atlético Madrid. I was on cloud nine! Leicester even arranged for me to fly to Scotland and back for a Johnstone Burgh cup game. I’d never been on a plane before! 

“A week earlier, I’d taken a call from (Liverpool manager) Bill Shankly. I’d never spoken to a stranger on the phone before, only my parents. I couldn’t get a word in but he told me not to do anything before I’d spent a week at Liverpool, but after my time at Leicester I decided that Liverpool wouldn’t be able to supersede this and I signed for Leicester (in July 1963).

“My league debut was at Blackpool (in November 1963) in the old First Division. I was 18. The England captain, Jimmy Armfield, and future World Cup winner, Alan Ball, were in their team. I was thrown in probably earlier than had been intended because Davie Gibson was injured. I scored two goals.

“I remember the first one. I was around the 18-yard box, a cross came into me and I side-footed it in through a crowded goalmouth. I then scored a second. Then Tony Waiters (Blackpool’s England international goalkeeper) brought me down and Len Chalmers scored the penalty to make it 3-3. 

“When I first came to Leicester, my father had insisted that the Club arranged two days a week for me to finish my apprenticeship as a carpet fitter. Gillies said that to make the grade I needed to play full-time for the first four months before the carpet fitting started. After Blackpool, he said: ‘Forget the carpets!’”

Tom went on to make several more first team appearances that season. He started the following season (1964/65) as a regular in the first team, and played a total of 24 games, including the League Cup Final second leg when Leicester defeated Stoke City.

He also played in the League Cup Final side defeated by Chelsea the following season. In April 1966, he entered the record books as the first-ever Leicester City player to score as a substitute, in a 2-0 defeat of Blackburn Rovers at Filbert Street.

However, in February 1967, aged only 21, Tom suffered what turned out to be a career ending injury, as he explained.  

He said: “Before my injury, the Scottish press said that I’d be in the Scotland side with the likes of Denis Law and Dave Mackay. I noticed that fellow Scots at Leicester like Jackie Sinclair and Bobby Roberts had just had pay rises so I went in to see manager Matt Gillies to ask for one too.

 “I was young and very naive. Gillies started talking to me about budgets and finances. This was way over my head and in the end I just said: ‘Give me a pen and I’ll sign the contract on offer. Sorry to have wasted your time!’

“In a match at Forest (in February 1967) I had an injury from which I never recovered. I had the ball on the half-way line, near the left touch line. David Nish came inside for the pass. I gave him the ball and went for the return. I put my full weight on my left leg and a Forest player came right over the top.

“The referee never saw it. I met up with the player about a year later. By this time, he had been out a long time through injury and we were both trying to make a comeback in a reserve game. We both knew what had happened but he said to me that I was too quick for him.

“But that is not the case. He went over the top. I have since been told that he was quite a nice chap and that this was out of character.”

During the time Tom was trying to regain his fitness by playing in the reserves, he scored the equalising goal in a 2-2 draw in the 1967 Combination Cup Final against Tottenham Hotspur reserves but he never really recovered from his injury. 

After leaving Filbert Street Tom had a trial at Arsenal in July 1968. 

He explained: “(Ex-Leicester star) Frank McLintock was there. He told the Arsenal management that it was worth giving me a three-month trial to see if I could recover. I didn’t really enjoy it though. I was in a hotel and my wife, back in Sapcote, had just had our first baby so I came back. 

“Then another ex-Leicester City player (winger) Billy Hodgson, who was the funniest player I ever met and who was coach at York City, took me up there but I wasn’t right.”

Tom concluded by reflecting: “I played with some great players at Leicester including Gordon Banks, Davie Gibson, Derek Dougan, Mike Stringfellow and Jackie Sinclair, who was great striker of the ball. I played against great players too, like Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Jimmy Greaves, Dave Mackay, Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. The most difficult opponent I faced was Nobby Stiles. 

“Looking back, I’m glad that I played in the era that I did. Winning the League Cup was a highlight. I wish I had it on film!”