Brian Gomm

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Brian Gomm
Personal information
Full name
Brian Arthur Gomm
Born(1918-06-24)24 June 1918
Castle Cary, England
Died23 April 1995(1995-04-23) (aged 76)
Peterborough, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeft-arm medium pace
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1939Somerset
Career statistics
Competition FC
Matches 2
Runs scored 7
Batting average 2.33
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 5
Balls bowled 24
Wickets 0
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 0/21
Catches/stumpings 2/–
Source: CricketArchive, 22 December 2015

Brian Arthur Gomm (24 June 1918 – 23 April 1995) was a cricketer and footballer who made two first-class cricket appearances for Somerset in 1939 and played football for Yeovil in 1936-39 and for West Bromwich Albion in 1939 and 1945/46. He had amateur status in both sports.

Early life[edit]

Born at Castle Cary, Gomm attended Sexey's School, Bruton, where he distinguished himself as an athlete,[1] and subsequently studied physical education at Dudley Training College and Carnegie College, Leeds.[2]

Cricket career[edit]

He played cricket for Frome and Men o’Mendip[3] and made “some substantial scores” as a right-handed batsman in the Somerset second team before being selected for the county’s first eleven.

He made his first-class debut against Essex at Wells in July 1939,[4] batting at No. 8 in Somerset’s first innings and at No. 4 in their second. In a very low-scoring game, in which Somerset’s two innings only totalled 123 runs, he made 0 and 5,[5] but he was effective in the field, attracting attention early on with a “lightning throw-in” that resulted in the run-out of the Essex opener Laurie Eastman.[6] In Somerset’s next match, against Northamptonshire at Northampton, he batted at No. 9 and scored 2, but was not called upon in the second innings. A left-arm medium-pacer, he bowled three eight-ball overs without success.[7]

By the time of his selection for Somerset’s first eleven he was in training with the Militia at Catterick, having been conscripted after the Munich Crisis. He was released to play in the Essex and Northamptonshire matches at Somerset’s request, agreed to forfeit all other leave during his six months’ training, and received the accolade of being “the first Militiaman to play first-class cricket”.[8]

Following his return to England in 1945, he played for West Bromwich Dartmouth when the club won the First Division championship in the Birmingham Cricket League for the fifth successive year. His unbeaten 63 made a key contribution to the club’s victory over Walsall but was somewhat eclipsed by Eric Hollies’ bowling figures of 9 for 62.[9]

In 1949 and 1950 he played in non-first class matches for The Army, as a batsman only, scoring 84 in one innings against the Royal Air Force at Lord's.[10]

Football career[edit]

In 1935-6 Gomm played centre-forward for Shepton Mallet Town Football Club. At the outset of the 1936-7 season, when due to proceed to Dudley Training College, he was signed by Yeovil Town (then called Yeovil and Petters United), subsequently playing in several Southern and Western League games for the club.[11]

At Dudley he captained the college’s soccer team[12] and, when later based at Smethwick, began to play for West Bromwich Albion in Central League matches.[13] He was a member of Corinthian F.C. by 1938 and, after the merger with Casuals F.C., played for the club in the Isthmian League.[14] He was due to tour Greece with the club at Easter 1939 but the uncertain political situation resulted in the tour’s abandonment;[15] had it proceeded he would not have played in Yeovil's match against Norwich City Reserves, during which he sustained a leg injury that terminated his football for the season.[16]

He was first capped by the Somerset County Football Association in 1937 and in the following year recommended by its council for consideration when an English amateur international team was selected.[17] Probably as a consequence he was included in the Football Association Amateur XI which played the Royal Air Force at Cranwell in December that year.[18] In January 1939 he also played for Yorkshire Amateur A.F.C. in an FA Amateur Cup fixture.[19]

After a war-imposed interval he resumed football at Birmingham in the autumn of 1945 and had been “scoring freely for the reserves” (including a hat-trick against Derby) when he was promoted to lead West Bromwich’s first team as centre-forward against Luton in December.[20] He again opened the attack in the match against Arsenal in January 1946 but, after a disappointing start to the game, was moved to play outside-right after half-time.[21] He was next due to play centre-forward in the FA Cup match against Fulham but had to withdraw due to an injury suffered while playing in an Army mid-week fixture (Southern Command v A.A.Command, in which he had scored all four of the victorious Southern’s goals).[22] He last appeared for the West Bromwich first team against Plymouth Argyle in February, scoring once.[23]

Playing for Army Crusaders against Cambridge University Falcons in February 1954, he delivered a hat-trick that failed to avert the Crusaders’ 3-6 defeat.[24]

Military and business career[edit]

Gomm was a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals, attached to the Indian Signal Corps in 1941;[25] he was a Lieutenant, acting Captain, when mentioned in despatches in June 1942,[26] but was a prisoner of war in Italy by the end of that year.[27] Promoted substantive Captain in 1946 and Major in 1953, he retired in the latter rank in 1955.[28]

On leaving military service, he became one of several ex-Army officers recruited to work for Perkins Engines by its chairman, Sir Montague Prichard, who believed that experience in strategic planning and leadership were key credentials for success in commercial management. He was given charge of Perkins’ South African subsidiary in 1957[29] and was subsequently general sales manager for several of the Group’s European regions.[30]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Somerset Standard, 15 July 1932; Somerset Guardian, 28 February 1936, p. 10.
  2. ^ Western Gazette, 14 August 1936, p. 7; Bradford Observer, 3 December 1938, p. 10.
  3. ^ Western Daily Press, 23 July 1938, p. 5; Somerset Standard, 14 July 1939, p. 8.
  4. ^ Birmingham Mail, 29 July 1939, p. 12.
  5. ^ Somerset v. Essex scorecard, 26 July 1939, retrieved 6 July 2021; Leeds Mercury, 28 July 1939, p. 11.
  6. ^ Birmingham Mail, 29 July 1939, p. 12.
  7. ^ Northamptonshire v. Somerset scorecard, 29 July - 1 August 1939, retrieved 6 July 2021; Evening Sentinel (Staffordshire), 29 July 1939, p. 10, and 1 August 1939, p. 10.
  8. ^ Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 29 July 1939, p. 16.
  9. ^ Birmingham Daily Gazette, 30 July 1945, p. 3.
  10. ^ Dundee Courier, 19 July 1949, p. 5.
  11. ^ Shepton Mallet Journal, 7 April 1939, p. 3; Western Gazette, 14 August 1936, p. 7; Central Somerset Gazette, 1 January 1937, p. 2; Western Gazette, 14 April 1939, p. 10.
  12. ^ Birmingham Daily Gazette, 11 April 1938, p. 11.
  13. ^ Birmingham Mail, 3 February 1939, p. 17; Evening Despatch (Warwickshire), 25 February 1939, p. 10.
  14. ^ Somerset County Herald, 5 November 1938, p. 14; Surrey Advertiser, 4 January 1939, p. 2.
  15. ^ Wells Journal, 7 April 1939, p. 6.
  16. ^ Western Morning News, 11 April 1939, p. 10.
  17. ^ Western Daily Press and Bristol Mirror, 8 January 1937, p. 3; Central Somerset Gazette, 4 November 1938, p. 8.
  18. ^ Bradford Observer, 3 December 1938, p. 10.
  19. ^ Evening Despatch (Warwickshire), 31 January 1939, p. 14.
  20. ^ Evening Despatch (Warwickshire), 28 December 1945, p. 4.
  21. ^ Birmingham Daily Gazette, 21 January 1946, p.3; The People, 20 January 1946, p. 8.
  22. ^ Birmingham Daily Gazette, 7 February 1946, p. 3, and 9 February 1946, p. 3.
  23. ^ Birmingham Daily Gazette, 25 February 1946, p. 3.
  24. ^ The Tatler, 24 February 1954, p. 44.
  25. ^ The London Gazette (Supplement), 7 October 1943, p. 4438, correcting entry in the London Gazette, 30 December 1941.[1]
  26. ^ The London Gazette (Supplement), 30 June 1942, p. 2853.[2]
  27. ^ Coventry Evening Telegraph, 20 November 1942, p. 8.
  28. ^ The London Gazette (Supplement), 3 December 1946, p. 5853.[3] The London Gazette (Supplement), 3 March 1953, p. 1222.[4] The London Gazette (Supplement), 12 April 1955, p. 2185.[5]
  29. ^ Peterborough Citizen and Advertiser, 26 November 1957, p. 1.
  30. ^ Peterborough Standard, 28 December 1962, p. 10; Birmingham Daily Post, 2 March 1968, p. 13.
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