Thomas Sanderson "Tom" Callender (20 September 1920 – 2002) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 former professional football centre back. He was born in Wylam

Wylam

 Wylam is a small village about west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located in the county of Northumberland.It is famous for the being the birthplace of George Stephenson, one of the early rail pioneers. George Stephenson's Birthplace is his cottage that can be found on the north bank of the...

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Callender began his career before the Second World War with local non-league side Crawcrook Albion before moving to Third Division North

Football League Third Division North

The Third Division North of The Football League was a tier in the English association football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran parallel to Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to one or the other according to geographical position...

 side Lincoln City

Lincoln City F.C.

Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....

. After the war, Callender moved to Gateshead

Gateshead F.C.

Gateshead Football Club are a professional Association football club, based in Gateshead, England. They currently play in the Conference National, the fifth level of the English football league system.Ian Bogie is the current manager....

 where he made his name. Although playing in the lower divisions of the Football League Callender was considered worthy of a place in the England team

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 by contemporaries. Indeed such was the esteem in which his play was held that Gateshead turned down a £15,000 offer from Newcastle United for his services. Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Major Frank Buckley

Frank Buckley (footballer)

Franklin Charles Buckley was an English football player and, later, manager. He is the brother of Chris Buckley who played for Aston Villa.-Early life:...

 also allegedly made an undisclosed offer for the outstanding centre back. At Gateshead Callender and his brother Jack

Jack Callender

John W. "Jack" Callender is an English former professional football wing half.Callender began his career during the Second World War with Gateshead, who would be his sole Football League club. Indeed Callender would go on to establish the club record for most appearances for the club in the...

 made 910 league appearances, a record for two brothers at the same club plus 75 cup appearances between them. Callender scored 58 goals for Gateshead in 439 league appearances, scoring an additional 3 goals in 35 appearances in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

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On his retirement Callender managed Gateshead for a short period. Callender died during 2002. Callender has been considered by fans and the media to be the greatest player to have worn a Gateshead shirt.