Thomas Edwin Duff (q4 1905 – q3 1951) was an English footballer who played as an outside left in the Football League for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and Darlington. He was on the books of Huddersfield Town without representing them in the league.[1]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Edwin Duff[1] | ||
| Date of birth | q4 1905[2] | ||
| Place of birth | West Cornforth, County Durham, England | ||
| Date of death | q3 1951 (aged 45) | ||
| Place of death | Canterbury, Kent, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9+1⁄2 in (1.77 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Outside left | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 192?–1925 | Bishop Auckland | ||
| 1925–1928 | Huddersfield Town | 0 | (0) |
| 1928–19?? | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 3 | (0) |
| 1930 | Darlington | 2 | (0) |
| 1930–19?? | Crook Town | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Duff was born in West Cornforth, County Durham,[1] the second child of Thomas Duff, a bricklayer, and his wife Elizabeth.[4] He began his football career as an amateur with Northern League club Bishop Auckland, and his performances earned him selection for a Football Association Amateur XI to face an Army XI – the Army won 9–0[5] – and, in November 1925, a move to Football League First Division club Huddersfield Town.[6] Initially, Duff retained his amateur status with Huddersfield, but he turned professional in September 1926.[3] He played for their reserve team in the Central League,[7] but not for the first team. He came close on one occasion: with undisputed first-choice outside-left Billy Smith absent on representative duty with the Football League XI, Duff would have been the obvious replacement, had he not been injured.[8]
Duff moved on to Third Division South club Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, for whom he made his Football League debut during the 1928–29 season. He finished the season, and his spell with the club, with three league appearances.[1] Ahead of the 1930–31 season, Duff joined Third Division Darlington on a month's trial.[9][10] He scored for the reserves,[11] and played twice in the league[1] – he hit the post near the end of the match after Darlington let slip a two-goal lead against Hull City,[12] – but was not taken on permanently because of what the Northern Daily Mail called the "brilliance" of Peter Bell and Reuben Vine.[10] In September 1930, he signed for North Eastern League club Crook Town.[10]
Duff died in Canterbury, Kent, in 1951 at the age of 45.[13]