Tinsley Lindley

Tinsley Lindley (27 October 1865 in Nottingham – 31 March 1940 in Nottingham) was an English footballer. He was considered one of the 19th century's great centre forwards.^{[citation needed]} His passes and shots at goal were very precise, he was very clever and an excellent team player. An elegant and technically superb player.

He was the son of Leonard Lindley who was a lace dresser. The family lived in Clipstone Avenue, Nottingham and Lindley attended Nottingham High School between 1875 and 1883, where he first revealed his extraordinary talent.

He later attended The Leys School in Cambridge, where he turned to rugby. From 1885 to 1888 he studied at Caius College, Cambridge and during this time played football for Cambridge University, and also for the Corinthians and Casuals. In 1888, he returned to his home town to join Nottingham Forest, but during the 1889-90 season also played two league matches for local rivals Notts County.

In 1891 he also played for Crusaders and Swifts for a short while before guest-playing for Preston North End in a 4-1 defeat at Sunderland in 1892.

His many transfers were due primarily to his professional full-time career and the fact that he always remained an amateur, although many clubs wanted to hire him as a professional. He was the epitome of the 'Corinthian gentleman amateur' of his time, being an academic as well as a sportsman. He refused to wear ordinary football boots when playing, preferring walking brogues instead, declaring that boots marred his great sprinting speed.

His England call-up came on 13 March 1886 when, along with his Nottingham Forest team-mate Teddy Leighton, he was one of eight new caps selected to play against Ireland at Ballynafeigh Park, Belfast. Lindley scored as England "totally dominated" the match with Benjamin Spilsbury scoring four goals in a 6–1 victory.

It has been claimed that he holds the record for scoring in 9 consecutive England matches between 13 March 1886 and 7 April 1888. However, there is no substance whatsoever to this claim, as this includes the match against Wales on 29 March 1886, in which all contemporary reports credit the goals to George Brann, Fred Dewhurst & Andrew Amos. He did, however, score in each of the next 6 consecutive games, which is still an England record (though note that Steve Bloomer scored in 10 consecutive matches in which he played, and George Camsell in 9). In total he scored 14 international goals in just 13 games. He held the overall England goalscoring record from March 1888 when he equalled Charles Bambridge's tally of 11 until his final tally of 14 was overhauled by Steve Bloomer in 1898.

He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and Nottinghamshire.

On retirement from football, Lindley turned his full attention to his law practice, having been called to the Bar in 1899 while still playing. He also lectured in law at University of Nottingham and served as a County Court Judge. Lindley also stayed loyal to Nottingham Forest, serving on the committee for several years. He was awarded the OBE in 1918 and died in Nottingham in 1940 aged 74.

References

• England statistics
• CricInfo profile