Tom Maley

Who was Tom Maley?

Tom Maley was a Scottish football player and manager.

Born in Portsmouth to a soldier from County Clare, Maley spent his entire playing career in Scotland, with Partick Thistle, Dundee Harp, Hibernian, Third Lanark and Celtic. An amateur during his playing days, he worked as a school teacher and later governor. He left this role in 1902 to become manager of Manchester City, helping them to their first major honour, the 1903–04 FA Cup. After leaving City in 1906 he became manager of Bradford Park Avenue then later assisted Southport.

Two of Maley's brothers also found fame in the footballing world. Alex Maley was a manager with Clyde then Hibernian, while Willie Maley was a Scottish international and later manager of Celtic between 1898 and 1940.

It was on a visit to the Maley home in Cathcart in December 1887 to invite Tom Maley to join Celtic that Brother Walfrid and the rest of the Celtic deputation first met Willie Maley, and their casual invitation to Willie to also come along was perhaps the most important in Celtic's history.

Tom Maley died in 1935 and was buried at Kentigern RC cemetery in Glasgow.