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Examine the stern expression on the face of the youngster on the far right of the back row and you sense a determination that a first taste of success on the football field would not be his last.
But no one could have known little Tommy Banks would go on to achieve legendary status, hitting the heights at domestic and international level.
As a talented left-back, the kid from New Bury, Farnworth, won the FA Cup with Bolton Wanderers in 1958 and the same year played for England in the World Cup finals in Sweden, building for himself a no-nonsense reputation that earned him the respect of team-mates, opponents and supporters alike.
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And it all started back in 1938 when, as an eight-year-old he was a member of the St James School team that won the Farnworth Junior Football Shield.
It was an unremarkable achievement in some respects, since there were only five schools that played in the competition, but it was St James’ first success in a competition Tommy, now aged 85 and still living in Farnworth, recalls was dominated by Plodder Lane School.
“They were all big lads, at Plodder Lane” he said.
In fact, most players he played alongside or against seemed to be ‘big lads’ to Tommy, who was two years younger than all the boys in the St James team but was still considered good enough to represent the school.
Indeed, being by far the shortest player in the team – not much taller than the shield itself – he might have had a prominent position on the front row, if he had taken his football boots to school on the day the photograph was taken.
“They put me on the back row because I was wearing clogs,” he remembers vividly. “I was only having my photo taken. I wasn’t playing football so I didn’t think I needed my boots.”
Tommy’s memories of those formative football years were revived recently when he was given a copy of the photograph by Harold Schofield, the brother of Alan Schofield, who was a member of that successful 1938-39 team. Unfortunately, it had been torn up and when it was put together again a large piece was missing.
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But Tommy’s wife Rita set about trying to find an undamaged print and, despite various disappointments, eventually succeeded in her quest when Gary Pilkington, the son of the late Eric Pilkington who was also a team-mate, found a copy among his father’s belongings.
“I really wanted the full picture, but at first I was having no luck,” Mrs Banks said. “The old school had passed all their records to the new school but they couldn’t help me.
“I went through all the names of the people on the photograph, and eventually that led me to contacting Gary, and when he looked through his father’s old photographs there it was.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
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But no one could have known little Tommy Banks would go on to achieve legendary status, hitting the heights at domestic and international level.
As a talented left-back, the kid from New Bury, Farnworth, won the FA Cup with Bolton Wanderers in 1958 and the same year played for England in the World Cup finals in Sweden, building for himself a no-nonsense reputation that earned him the respect of team-mates, opponents and supporters alike.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
And it all started back in 1938 when, as an eight-year-old he was a member of the St James School team that won the Farnworth Junior Football Shield.
It was an unremarkable achievement in some respects, since there were only five schools that played in the competition, but it was St James’ first success in a competition Tommy, now aged 85 and still living in Farnworth, recalls was dominated by Plodder Lane School.
“They were all big lads, at Plodder Lane” he said.
In fact, most players he played alongside or against seemed to be ‘big lads’ to Tommy, who was two years younger than all the boys in the St James team but was still considered good enough to represent the school.
Indeed, being by far the shortest player in the team – not much taller than the shield itself – he might have had a prominent position on the front row, if he had taken his football boots to school on the day the photograph was taken.
“They put me on the back row because I was wearing clogs,” he remembers vividly. “I was only having my photo taken. I wasn’t playing football so I didn’t think I needed my boots.”
Tommy’s memories of those formative football years were revived recently when he was given a copy of the photograph by Harold Schofield, the brother of Alan Schofield, who was a member of that successful 1938-39 team. Unfortunately, it had been torn up and when it was put together again a large piece was missing.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
But Tommy’s wife Rita set about trying to find an undamaged print and, despite various disappointments, eventually succeeded in her quest when Gary Pilkington, the son of the late Eric Pilkington who was also a team-mate, found a copy among his father’s belongings.
“I really wanted the full picture, but at first I was having no luck,” Mrs Banks said. “The old school had passed all their records to the new school but they couldn’t help me.
“I went through all the names of the people on the photograph, and eventually that led me to contacting Gary, and when he looked through his father’s old photographs there it was.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
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