View source for Tom Mather

{{Short description|English football manager (1888–1957)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Tom Mather
| image          = 
| fullname       = Thomas Mather<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>
| birth_date     = 1888
| birth_place    = [[Chorley]], England
| death_date     = {{death year and age|1957|1888}}<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>
| death_place    = [[Stoke-on-Trent]], England<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>
| manageryears1  = 1915–1919| managerclubs1  = [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]]
| manageryears2  = 1920–1921| managerclubs2  = [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]]
| manageryears3  = 1923–1935| managerclubs3  = [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]]
| manageryears4  = 1935–1939| managerclubs4  = [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]]
| manageryears5  = 1945–1946| managerclubs5  = [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]]
| manageryears6  = 1947–1948| managerclubs6  = [[Kilmarnock F.C.|Kilmarnock]]
}}
'''Thomas Mather''' (1888–1957), was an English [[association football|football]] manager who managed in [[the Football League]] for [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]], [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]], [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]], [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] and [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}}</ref>

==Career==
Mather was assistant secretary of both [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] and [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] before taking the manager's job at Bolton at the beginning of the [[First World War]], remaining at the club until 1915 when he was called up by the [[Royal Navy]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> He remained as manager, in name only, until July 1919, his duties being taken on, and then over, by his assistant [[Charles Foweraker]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> After his national service he moved to [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]] as secretary-manager.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> He spent three years at the "Shrimpers" before joining [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] in October 1923.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> Stoke had just been relegated from the First Division and had to get over the shock of seeing [[Jock Rutherford]] quit the club after just four weeks in charge. Mather's [[1923–24 Stoke F.C. season|first season]] in charge saw Stoke finish in 6th position and he decided to move on a number of players at the end of the season. This did not go down well with some of the released players who smashed up the offices at the [[Victoria Ground]] and caused a considerable amount of damage.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>

Things did not improve quickly and Stoke suffered relegation to the [[Football League Third Division North|Third Division North]] in [[1925–26 Stoke City F.C. season|1925–26 season]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> But Mather spent his transfer budget well and Stoke gained an instant return to the second tier. The goals of [[Charlie Wilson (footballer born 1895)|Charlie Wilson]] proved invaluable as Stoke began to start pushing for a return to the First Division.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> Mather gave [[Stanley Matthews]] his debut in February 1932. After a number a failed attempts ,Stoke finished as Second Division champions in [[1932–33 Stoke City F.C. season|1932–33]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> Mather remained in charge of Stoke for two more seasons before [[Bob McGrory]] took over and Mather left in 1935 to join [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]]. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Mather attempted to encourage Matthews to join him at Newcastle, but Matthews declined.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>

He spent four years in charge of [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]] until the start of [[World War II]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> He spent a season in charge of [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] in [[1945–46 in English football|1945–46]] and then a year at Scottish club [[Kilmarnock F.C.|Kilmarnock]]. He then returned to [[Stoke-on-Trent]] to work for a catering company.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>

==Career statistics==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center"
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure
|-
!rowspan=2|Team
!rowspan=2|From
!rowspan=2|To
!colspan=5|Record
|-
!{{abbr|P|Matches played}}!!{{abbr|W|Matches won}}!!{{abbr|D|Matches drawn}}!!{{abbr|L|Matches lost}}!!{{abbr|Win %|Win percentage}}
|-
|align=left|[[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]]
|align=left|1 August 1915
|align=left|31 May 1919
{{WDL|144|61|21|62|decimals=1}}
|-
|align=left|[[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]]
|align=left|August 1920
|align=left|May 1921
{{WDL|45|16|8|21|decimals=1}}
|-
|align=left|[[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]]
|align=left|October 1923
|align=left|June 1935
{{WDL|523|222|122|179|decimals=1}}
|-
|align=left|[[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]]
|align=left|June 1935
|align=left|September 1939
{{WDL|179|78|32|69|decimals=1}}
|-
|align=left|[[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]]
|align=left|June 1945
|align=left|June 1946
{{WDL|44|8|8|28|decimals=1}}
|-
|align=left|[[Kilmarnock F.C.|Kilmarnock]]
|align=left|June 1946
|align=left|June 1947
{{WDL|38|10|9|19|decimals=1}}
|-
!colspan=3|Total<ref>{{cite web|title=Tom Mather|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=1214|website=Soccerbase|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>
{{WDLtot|973|395|200|378|decimals=1}}
|}

==Honours==
; Stoke City:
* [[Football League Second Division]] champion: [[1932–33 Stoke City F.C. season|1932–33]]
* [[Football League Third Division North]] champion: [[1926–27 Stoke City F.C. season|1926–27]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Southend United F.C. managers}}
{{Stoke City F.C. managers}}
{{Bolton Wanderers F.C. Managers}}
{{Kilmarnock F.C. managers}}
{{Newcastle United F.C. managers}}
{{Leicester City F.C. managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mather, Tom}}
[[Category:1888 births]]
[[Category:1957 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Chorley]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:Newcastle United F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Bolton Wanderers F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Leicester City F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Kilmarnock F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Stoke City F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Southend United F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English Football League managers]]
[[Category:Scottish Football League managers]]