Tommy Browell

Who was Tommy Browell?

Thomas "Tommy" Browell was an English footballer who played as a forward for Hull City, Everton, Manchester City and Blackpool. He is the seventh-highest Manchester City goalscorer of all time with 139 goals for the club.

Browell was born in Walbottle, Northumberland, in 1892. He started his career with Hull City, who were then in the Football League Second Division, who also had Browell's two brothers on their books. At Hull he gained the nickname "Boy" following a hat-trick against Stockport County as an 18-year-old in 1910. A newspaper report of the match carried the headline "£10 men and a boy beat Stockport", and the nickname then followed throughout his career. A year later, after making 48 appearances and scoring 32 goals, he was signed by First Division Everton for a fee of £1,650. Despite only playing half the season for the club, Browell finished as Everton's top goalscorer in the 1911-12 season. In two years at Everton he scored 36 goals in 60 appearances, including two FA Cup hat-tricks.

In October 1913, Manchester City signed Browell for £1,780. He scored on his City debut against The Wednesday, though City lost the match 2-1.