Booth: Curtis (Tommy)

1915-1916 (Leeds City War-time Guest Player Details)

Inside Forward

Born: Gateshead: 12-10-1891

Debut: v Stockport County (h): 17-04-1908

5’9 1/2” 11st 5lb (1923)

Booth started with Wallsend Elm Villa, joining Newcastle United as a professional in November 1913. He had played nineteen League games and scored twice before the outbreak of WW1, when Newcastle United opted not to participate in any games for the duration of the War. It was during this time that he played as a War-time guest for Leeds City along with several other Newcastle United players. He returned to Newcastle on the recommencement of the Football League fixtures in 1919 and played a further fifteen games and scored four more goals. He left Gallowgate for Carrow Road, signing for Norwich City on 1st September 1920 for £800. He spent three seasons at Third Division Norwich making sixty-two League appearances and finding the net on eleven occasions. He joined Third Division North team Accrington Stanley on 1st June 1923 as Player-Manager. It was the first time Accrington Stanley had made such an appointment. The former Manager Sam Pilkington was to remain as Secretary, but just the administrative side, while Booth was to play as the club captain and be responsible for the Manager’s duties. In the very first game, at Darlington, on 25th August 1923, Booth badly damaged his knee ligaments, and had to retire from the game as a player. He was unable to return to his duties with the club until the final months of the season, and due to the financial strain on the club he was released in May 1924. After leaving Stanley, Booth was engaged in coaching in various parts of Europe. He started with Erfurt in Germany in 1925, then in Turkey, rising to head coach to the Turkish FA, Egypt, France, where he coached Racing Club of Paris in 1932-33 and the Netherlands, dying in Amsterdam on 29th October 1949.