Tony Thear

Tony Thear

After failing to make the grade at Arsenal, the Edmonton born striker was snapped up by Fourth Division Luton in 1966 as a hoped for replacement for the recently departed John O’Rourke.

Tony burst on the Kenilworth Road scene in remarkable fashion scoring twice on his full League debut during a 4-0 win over Aldershot in September 1966 and followed it up with another pair in his next game when Rochdale were seen off 3-1.

Sadly that was as good as it got for Tony who scored only once more before losing his place in the aftermath of the horrendous 1-8 thrashing at Lincoln in December 1966. New manager Allan Brown then brought in ex-England international Derek Kevan and allowed Tony to move on to Gillingham in February 1967.

Finding it tough at Priestfield, Tony moved on to Bedford and Folkestone before becoming player-manager of Dunstable. Tony now lives in Ascot.