Overview
Born at the former mining village of Merryton, near Larkhall on October 30th 1890. He played as a junior with Burnbank Athletic, then Larkhall Thistle before being signed by Bristol City. Soon he was back north again with Peebles Rovers, then in August 1913 St Johnstone took him on.
Within three months Rangers were interested and eventually signed him. There he made his name and was capped on 8 occasions for Scotland. An inside left, he was strong and hard working.
His appearances for Accies came at the end of season 1919-18 as a guest. When the attendance record for a club match was set at Firhill, 49,838 in 1922, Tommy was in the Rangers side that day.
In June 1927 he went to Bradford City where he played in their Division Three (North) League winning side of 1929 to add to his many other medals. While with the Bradford club he coached a local eleven, Salem Amateurs. He also appeared for the Scottish League half a dozen times and was a member of Rangers title winning side seven times as well as appearing in two Scottish Cup Finals.
When he retired in the close season of 1932 he was almost 42. He made 441 first team appearances for the Ibrox side and scored 144 goals. During the 1930’s he was Arsenal’s Scottish scout.
His playing height and weight was 5’9” and 12sts. He died in December 1967.
Debut on 5th April 1919 in a Scottish League match at home to Kilmarnock.
Scottish League 1 Appearance
Lanarkshire Cup 2 Appearances 1 goal
Accies Career
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Full Name
Tommy Cairns
1919
Position
Inside left
Born
30 October 1890
Died
December 1967
Signed by
Alex Raisbeck
Debut
5 April 1919
Last Game
Honours
Scottish international
Clubs Played For
Burnbank Athletic
Larkhall Thistle
Bristol City
Peebles Rovers
St Johnstone
Rangers
Hamilton Academical
Bradford City