Tommy Tynan is a retired English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 professional footballer.

A hard working striker with flowing blonde hair, Tynan was signed as an apprentice for Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 by manager Bill Shankly

Bill Shankly

William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...

 after winning a talent contest run by the Liverpool Echo

Liverpool Echo

The Liverpool Echo is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Saturday, and is Liverpool's evening newspaper while its sister paper, the Liverpool Daily Post, is the morning paper...

newspaper, but he never made a first-team appearance for the Reds and was transferred to Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

 in 1976, where he spent two years and scored 31 goals.

After just nine appearances for 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....

 in 1978, Tynan moved on to Newport County

Newport County A.F.C.

Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...

 where he formed a dynamic striking partnership with John Aldridge

John Aldridge

John William Aldridge is a former Republic of Ireland international footballer and football manager...

 as the Newport team gained promotion from Division 4, won the Welsh Cup

Welsh Cup

The Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...

 and reached the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners Cup. Tynan scored both goals in the away leg against Carl Zeiss Jena

FC Carl Zeiss Jena

FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German association football club based in Jena, Thuringia.-History:The club was founded in May 1903 by workers at the Carl Zeiss AG optics factory as the company-sponsored Fussball-Club der Firma Carl Zeiss. The club underwent name changes in 1911 to Fussball Club Carl Zeiss...

 of East Germany, the equalising goal being in the 90th minute but Newport lost the home leg 1–0. In total Tynan scored 66 goals in 183 matches during the most successful period in the club's history.

In 1983, Tynan moved on to Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...

 where he became a cult figure during the 1980s and is frequently named by Argyle fans as one of the club's all time greatest players. He was a member of the side which reached the semi-finals of 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...

 in 1984, scoring the goal which beat then top flight West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

 in the fifth round of the competition. Argyle went on to beat Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 in the quarter finals before losing to Watford

Watford F.C.

Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade...

 in the penultimate stage of the competition.

In the 1984/85 season, Tynan was joint top scorer in all 4 divisions of the Football League with 31 goals, level with Tranmere

Tranmere Rovers F.C.

Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...

's John Clayton

John Clayton (footballer)

John Clayton is a retired Scottish professional football striker. He was forced to retire from football in 1994 due to injury...

. Clayton, ironically, joined Argyle as Tynan's replacement, when Tynan signed for Rotherham United

Rotherham United F.C.

Rotherham United Football Club are an English professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, who compete in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history...

 in the summer of 1985. However, Tynan rejoined Argyle in early 1986, initially on loan, as the club pushed for promotion to Division 2. In total Tynan scored 126 goals in 262 appearances for Plymouth.

Tynan spent a season as manager of Goole Town in the Northern Premier League

Northern Premier League

The Northern Premier League, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the Midlands. Originally just one...

 between 1993 and 1994.

He is now a taxi driver in Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, and writes a regular column about Argyle for local newspaper, the Plymouth Evening Herald. Tynan's biography was published in March 2009, entitled "The Original Football Idol: The Tommy Tynan story". He was also the subject of the 1990 book Tommy: A Life at the Soccer Factory