1947–48), and to share the Championship in 1938–39. He fell out of international contention at the age of 28 due to his contempt for manager Walter Winterbottom, his decision to drop out of the First Division, and the emergence of Jackie Milburn and Nat Lofthouse. As well as his England caps, he also represented The Football League XI and played in a special Great Britain game against Europe in 1947. He married twice, and had two children and one step-child. His ashes are held in the National Football Museum, and he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003. Early life Thomas Lawton was born on 6 October 1919 to Elizabeth Riley and Thomas Lawton senior in Farnworth, Lancashire. His father was a railway signalman, and his mother worked as a weaver at Harrowby Mill. His father left the family 18 months after Lawton was born, and Elizabeth moved back into her parents' home in Bolton. Elizabeth's father, James Hugh "Jim" Riley, became Lawton's surrogate father. Lawton's natural footballing ability earned him a place on the Bolton Town Schools team in 1930. He was picked by Lancashire Schools at the age of 13. Despite scoring a hat-trick in a trial game for England Schoolboys, he never earned a full England Schoolboy cap. At the age of 14 he began playing for Hayes Athletic in the Bolton Senior League, and went on to score 570 goals in three seasons. The FA's rules meant he was unable to turn professional at a club until he was 17, and Lawton's grandfather rejected Bolton Wanderers's offer for Lawton to work as a delivery driver for two years before turning professional at the club. Lawton instead played as an amateur for Rossendale United in the Lancashire Combination, scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Bacup. He took up temporary work at a tannery, and then joined Burnley as assistant groundsman after his mother rejected an offer from Sheffield Wednesday as she objected to him travelling to Sheffield on a daily basis. Club career Burnley Lawton played his first game for Burnley Reserves against Manchester City Reserves in September 1935, and though he struggled in this game he went on to become a regular Reserve team player by the age of 16. After a poor run of form from Cecil Smith, Lawton was selected ahead of Smith for the Second Division game against