Tony Lormor
Encyclopedia
Anthony "Tony" Lormor also known as Anth Lormor, is an English former professional footballer who scored 102 goals from 374 appearances in the Football League
. He played as a forward for Newcastle United
, Lincoln City
, Peterborough United
, Chesterfield
, Preston North End
, Notts County
, Mansfield Town
, Hartlepool United
and Shrewsbury Town
.
, Northumberland
. A product of Wallsend Boys Club
, he joined Newcastle United
as a youth trainee. His first-team debut came on 23 January 1988, as substitute for Mirandinha
in a 2–0 home win against Tottenham Hotspur
in the First Division
. He played four more times in the 1987–88 season, and scored his first Football League
goal on his first start, in a 3–1 defeat of Oxford United
. In November 1988, Lormor joined Norwich City
on loan as Andy Fensome
made a loan move in the opposite direction; neither player appeared for his loan club's first team.
Lormor signed for Lincoln City
in January 1990 for a fee of £25,000, and made an immediate impact. He scored the winner on his League debut against Wrexham, finished the season with eight goals, only one fewer than leading scorer Gordon Hobson
, and was himself the club's top scorer in 1990–91 and 1991–92. A cruciate injury
caused him to miss the whole of the next season, and though he returned to the side after 18 months out, he started only nine more games, and spent a spell on loan at Conference
club Halifax Town
, before being released.
After a spell at Peterborough United
, during which he regained fitness playing regularly in the reserves, Lormor moved to Division Three
club Chesterfield
in December 1994. In partnership with Phil Robinson, Lormor helped Chesterfield to a run of 21 games unbeaten, which would have been 22 had he not missed a penalty. According to the club's website, "the influence of these two on the side cannot be overstated". Robinson and Lormor scored the goals in the 1995 playoff final
against Bury
that earned the club promotion to Division Two. Injury disrupted his next season, and after a long period playing either out of position in midfield or not playing at all, he asked for a transfer. In November 1997, Lormor joined Preston North End
in part-exchange for David Reeves
.
Lormor scored the opening goal and added an assist for a second as Preston won 3–1 at Luton Town
, but only two more goals came from his next 16 appearances, and he was allowed to join Notts County
on loan in February 1998. After failing to score in seven games for County, Lormor left Preston for Mansfield Town
in the 1998 close season for a fee of £15,000. A fee had been agreed the previous summer for him to join Mansfield from Chesterfield, but manager John Duncan
had been reluctant to allow him to leave without a replacement.
Two seasons with Mansfield produced 20 goals from 74 League games before Lormor moved on to Hartlepool United
for a fee of £30,000. Recurrence of a long-standing injury meant he was unable to give of his best at Hartlepool. He spent a month on loan at Shrewsbury Town
, but despite both club and player wanting to extend the stay, his parent club were unwilling to let him remain with their promotion rivals. He made no more appearances for Hartlepool, and was released at the end of the 2001–02 season.
After interest from clubs including Scarborough
, Kettering Town
, Halifax Town, and King's Lynn
, Lormor signed for Conference club Telford United
for the 2002–03 season. He played only five games before injury again intervened, and in January 2003 he announced his retirement from football because of work commitments. A few weeks later he resumed his football career, with Sutton Town, and scored on his debut. At the end of the season, having helped the club to promotion into the Northern Counties East League, Lormor signed a two-year playing contract and also agreed to act as commercial manager. He stayed with Sutton Town until December 2005, when he joined Heanor Town
as a player, but returned to Sutton at the end of the season as a coach.
Lormor was commercial manager of former club Mansfield Town between July 2007 and July 2008.
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
. He played as a forward for Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
, 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....
, Peterborough United
Peterborough United F.C.
Peterborough United Football Club are a professional English football club based in Peterborough. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and played in the old Midland League, which they won six times; eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960, replacing Gateshead. Their home ground is...
, Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
, Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
, Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
, Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
, Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
and Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town F.C.
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...
.
Football career
Lormor was born in AshingtonAshington
Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England with a population of around 27,000 people; it was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is located some north of Newcastle upon Tyne off the A189. The south of the town is bordered by the River Wansbeck...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
. A product of Wallsend Boys Club
Wallsend Boys Club
Wallsend Boys Club is an English youth football club based in Wallsend, North Tyneside. The club is well-known for producing professional footballers, with 65 players from the club having gone on to play professionally.-History:...
, he joined Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
as a youth trainee. His first-team debut came on 23 January 1988, as substitute for Mirandinha
Mirandinha
Francisco Ernani Lima da Silva, better known as Mirandinha , is a former professional Brazilian footballer....
in a 2–0 home win against Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
. He played four more times in the 1987–88 season, and scored his first Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
goal on his first start, in a 3–1 defeat of Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...
. In November 1988, Lormor joined Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
on loan as Andy Fensome
Andy Fensome
Andrew Fensome is an English former footballer and he was assistant manager of Hereford United, until he was sackedon 4 October 2010....
made a loan move in the opposite direction; neither player appeared for his loan club's first team.
Lormor signed 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 January 1990 for a fee of £25,000, and made an immediate impact. He scored the winner on his League debut against Wrexham, finished the season with eight goals, only one fewer than leading scorer Gordon Hobson
Gordon Hobson
Gordon Hobson is a retired English footballer who played as a forward, spending most of his career with Lincoln City, with shorter periods at Grimsby Town, Southampton and Exeter City.-Football career:...
, and was himself the club's top scorer in 1990–91 and 1991–92. A cruciate injury
Anterior cruciate ligament injury
An injury to the anterior cruciate ligament can be a debilitating musculoskeletal injury to the knee, seen most often in athletes. Non-contact tears and ruptures are the most common causes of ACL injury....
caused him to miss the whole of the next season, and though he returned to the side after 18 months out, he started only nine more games, and spent a spell on loan at Conference
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
club Halifax Town
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...
, before being released.
After a spell at Peterborough United
Peterborough United F.C.
Peterborough United Football Club are a professional English football club based in Peterborough. Peterborough United formed in 1934 and played in the old Midland League, which they won six times; eventually being admitted to the Football League in 1960, replacing Gateshead. Their home ground is...
, during which he regained fitness playing regularly in the reserves, Lormor moved to Division Three
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
club Chesterfield
Chesterfield F.C.
Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
in December 1994. In partnership with Phil Robinson, Lormor helped Chesterfield to a run of 21 games unbeaten, which would have been 22 had he not missed a penalty. According to the club's website, "the influence of these two on the side cannot be overstated". Robinson and Lormor scored the goals in the 1995 playoff final
1995 Football League Third Division play-off Final
The 1995 Football League Third Division play-off Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium on 27 May 1995, to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Third Division to the Second Division of the Football League in the 1994–95 season.It was contested by...
against Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
that earned the club promotion to Division Two. Injury disrupted his next season, and after a long period playing either out of position in midfield or not playing at all, he asked for a transfer. In November 1997, Lormor joined Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
in part-exchange for David Reeves
Dave Reeves
David Edward "Dave" Reeves is a former professional footballer who notably for Chesterfield, Bolton Wanderers and Carlisle United. He is currently without a club after leaving his post as Assistant Manager with Gainsborough Trinity.-Playing:Reeves was drafted into the first team squad at Sheffield...
.
Lormor scored the opening goal and added an assist for a second as Preston won 3–1 at Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, but only two more goals came from his next 16 appearances, and he was allowed to join Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
on loan in February 1998. After failing to score in seven games for County, Lormor left Preston for Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...
in the 1998 close season for a fee of £15,000. A fee had been agreed the previous summer for him to join Mansfield from Chesterfield, but manager John Duncan
John Duncan (footballer)
John Pearson Duncan is a Scottish footballer and football manager.-Playing career:He played as a centre-forward for Dundee, Tottenham Hotspur, Derby County, Scunthorpe United and the Scottish Football League....
had been reluctant to allow him to leave without a replacement.
Two seasons with Mansfield produced 20 goals from 74 League games before Lormor moved on to Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
for a fee of £30,000. Recurrence of a long-standing injury meant he was unable to give of his best at Hartlepool. He spent a month on loan at Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town F.C.
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...
, but despite both club and player wanting to extend the stay, his parent club were unwilling to let him remain with their promotion rivals. He made no more appearances for Hartlepool, and was released at the end of the 2001–02 season.
After interest from clubs including Scarborough
Scarborough F.C.
Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...
, Kettering Town
Kettering Town F.C.
Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08...
, Halifax Town, and King's Lynn
King's Lynn F.C.
King's Lynn F.C. was an English football club based in King's Lynn, Norfolk. Established in 1879, they were wound up at the High Court on 25 November 2009 with debts of £77,000 and went out of business in December after a failed appeal...
, Lormor signed for Conference club Telford United
Telford United F.C.
Telford United F.C. was an English football club based in Telford, Shropshire.The club existed under various names for a total of 132 years from its formation in 1872. The club was founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979 and played at this level for 25 years before being wound up in...
for the 2002–03 season. He played only five games before injury again intervened, and in January 2003 he announced his retirement from football because of work commitments. A few weeks later he resumed his football career, with Sutton Town, and scored on his debut. At the end of the season, having helped the club to promotion into the Northern Counties East League, Lormor signed a two-year playing contract and also agreed to act as commercial manager. He stayed with Sutton Town until December 2005, when he joined Heanor Town
Heanor Town F.C.
Heanor Town Football Club is a football club established in 1883 and based in Heanor, Derbyshire, England. They have reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup six times in their history...
as a player, but returned to Sutton at the end of the season as a coach.
Lormor was commercial manager of former club Mansfield Town between July 2007 and July 2008.