Full name Thomas Ring Name Tommy Ring Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland Role Footballer | Years Team Died October 5, 1997 1948–1949 Ashfield | |
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Date of birth (1930-08-08)8 August 1930 Date of death 5 October 1997(1997-10-05) (aged 67) | ||
Thomas Ring (8 August 1930 – 5 October 1997) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Ashfield, Clyde, Everton, Barnsley, Aberdeen, Fraserburgh, Stevenage Town, and the Scotland national team.
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Club career
Ring was born in Glasgow and is perhaps best known for his time at Scottish club Clyde, during which he won the Scottish Cup in 1954–55 and 1957–58. Ring scored the winning goal in the replayed 1955 Scottish Cup Final, against Celtic. He also won Scottish Division Two championships in 1951–52 and 1956–57.
Ring was transferred to Everton in January 1960 for £12,000. He made a significant contribution at Everton in the 1960–61 season, and is still considered one of their best players hence many headlines were written concerning him such as 'Blues could just "Ring" for service', etc.
Ring left Everton, due to a broken leg injury, in November 1961 and joined Barnsley. He returned to Scotland in 1963 with a short spell at Aberdeen before ending his career with further brief periods at Fraserburgh in the Scottish Highland Football League, and with Stevenage Town in the English Southern Football League.
International career
Ring was capped 12 times by Scotland, all of which were earned while at Clyde, and scored two goals - one was against the famous Hungary team of Ferenc Puskás during the 1954–55 season. The other was scored against England at Wembley in 1957; Ring scored after just one minute, but England went on to win 2-1. Of the 12 caps won, five were earned while Clyde were a Division Two club. He also represented the Scottish League XI.
In popular culture
His name has become a running gag on BBC Radio Scotland's Off the Ball radio programme as his surname has multiple connotations. This ensures that he makes it into the show's 'team of the week' almost every week.