Biography

Tommy Wyper was a Scottish wide player who joined the Tigers in February 1927 to replace Alf Horne at outside right. He scored on his debut, a 3-3 draw against Middlesbrough, and missed only two matches for the remainder of the season. At the start of the 1927/28 season Wyper was again manager Bill McCracken’s first choice outside right, but the goals did not come and by late October he had drifted out of the first team picture. He returned in February 1928 and scored his second and final goal for the Tigers in a 3-1 win over Leeds United but he missed the last five games of the season and moved on that summer.
Henry Thomas Hartley Wyper, known as Tommy, was born at Coatbridge, a town to the east of Glasgow, and played Services football during World War One prior to serving North Ayrshire junior side Glengarnock Vale. Tommy signed amateur terms for Division Three North side Southport in December 1921 and made his debut days later against Crewe Alexandra, signing a professional contract at the end of January 1922 and ending the season with 7 goalless appearances. In September 1922 Wyper signed for Scottish Division One side Motherwell but returned to Southport two months later without making a first team appearance for The Well – he made two further Division Three North appearances for the Sandgrounders during the 1922/23 season.
After a trial for Burnley during August 1923 came to nothing, Tommy drifted into the lower league scene in September 1923, playing for Cheshire League side Wallasey United in their only season, then Liverpool County Combination side Burscough Rangers during the 1924/25 season. In August 1925 he returned to the Football League, signing for Division Three North side Accrington Stanley and quickly earning a regular first team start for the first time in his career. In one and a half seasons at Accrington he scored 15 times in 68 appearances prior to joining Hull City in February 1927.
Wyper left the Tigers and after an unsuccessful trial at Arsenal he signed for Division Three South side Charlton Athletic in September 1928. Again a first team regular, he assisted the Addicks to the Division Three South title in the 1928/29 season and stayed for two further seasons, scoring a total of 13 goals in 88 appearances. In June 1931 Tommy returned to Division Three South, signing for Queens Park Rangers where he made just 11 appearances. In February 1932 he headed back to the north west, signing for Division Three North side Chester where he spent 12 months and scored 9 goals in 26 appearances.
In January 1933 Wyper signed for Division Three South side Bristol Rovers and scored two goals in 11 appearances before returning to Accrington Stanley in May 1933, during the 1933/34 season he added eight goals in 33 appearances to his Accrington tally. Wyper left Accrington in May 1934 and in October 1934 he signed for Cheshire League side Macclesfield, then in March 1935 he joined Division Three North side Crewe Alexandra but only played for the Railwaymen’s Reserves side. In August 1935 he made the last transfer of an impressively peripatetic career in football, joining Lancashire Combination side Rossendale United, a club he left in the 1936 close season.
By 1939 Wyper was living in Poole in Dorset, where he worked as a gas fitter, after the War he ran a Bournemouth boarding house (he had previously owned the Peel Park Hotel during his second spell at Accrington Stanley). In January 1950 he left Bournemouth and emigrated to Australia with his wife, 21 year old daughter and 5 year old son, sailing on the P&O steamship Georgic between Liverpool to Sydney. He lived in Victoria State for many years, where he died in January 1974.
Details
Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 8 October 1900, Coatbridge
Hull City First Game: 5 February 1927, Middlesbrough H (Division Two), 26 years, 120 days old
Hull City Final Game: 9 April 1928, Swansea Town A (Division Two), 27 years, 184 days old
Clubs
Glengarnock Vale, Southport (1921-1922), Motherwell (1922), Southport (1922-1923), Wallasey United (1923-1924), Burscough Rangers (1924-1925), Accrington Stanley (1925-1927), Hull City (1927-1928), Charlton Athletic (1928-1931), Queens Park Rangers (1931-1932), Chester (1932-1933), Bristol Rovers (1933), Accrington Stanley (1933-1934), Macclesfield (1934-1935), Crewe Alexandra (1935), Rossendale United (1935-1936)
Hull City Record
Career: 40 apps, 2 goals
Tommy WyperSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1926/27 | 17 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1927/28 | 23 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |