Tony was born in Gateshead on the 9th of January 1954 and was playing for Whitley Bay when he was picked up by Southport. His league debut came against Aldershot in February 1977. The game ended in a 1-0 defeat but Tony had shown enough to keep his place for the remainder of the season and to attract scouts from other clubs to watch his performances.
The following season, 77/78, was to be Southport's last as a league club and a nightmare for Tony personally. Playing again against Aldershot in January he broke his arm which sidelined him until the last three games of the season. Southport's final game in the league was against Watford at Vicarage Road. Watford having already won the division with a young Graham Taylor in charge and the game ended in a 3-2 win for Watford. Southport had to reapply to retain league status for the next season, they were voted out to be replaced by Wigan Athletic.
Tony had talks with Cambridge and Bournemouth before choosing to leave Southport and play at Carlisle under Bob Moncur. He must have been looking forward to a new start with a league club but things went wrong very quickly. Carlisle had a pre season match with Netherfield and in a freak accident Tony broke his leg, putting him out of contention for a year. Incidentally this led to Allan Ross making his 466th and final appearance for Carlisle United. Rossy had retired but because of Tony's injury he was asked to fill in as reserve keeper. In October Swinburne also picked up an injury and so Allan Ross had to turn out for the first team, the game produced a 2-0 win against Swindon Town, his last game like his first ending with a clean sheet.
By the time Tony was fully fit Trevor Swinburne had made the number 1 spot his own and there were few chances to play in the first team. He made his league debut for Carlisle on the 11th of November 1980 a 1-1 home draw against Huddersfield. Bob Stokoe had returned as manager and decided to give Tony some games. The next match was away against Sheffield United on the 15th of November and ended in a 2-2 draw. Colchester at home on Dec 6th resulted in a 4-0 win and clean sheet but more satisfaction came from the 3-2 home win over Burnley on Boxing Day. The run came to an end on the 10th of January 81 with a 3-1 defeat against Reading. Tony himself admitted he had a nightmare game that day and deserved to be dropped but Reading were a useful side with Neil Webb and Kerry Dixon playing for them. This turned out to be the last league game Tony would play. In all Tony made 13 appearances for Carlisle, 8 league games and 5 cup ties, the Cumbrians never lost a cup tie with Tony in goal. Maybe his most memorable game for the club was the F.A. Cup 1st round replay against Workington at Borough Park. Beardsley and Brown scored 2 each to see United to a comfortable 4-1 win over their fierce local rivals, with Harrison putting in one of his best performances for the blues to keep the hungry reds at bay.
Tony left Carlisle United in 1982 returning to his native North East, playing for North Shields, Blue Star, Gateshead, Bishop Auckland, Whitley Bay and finally Durham City where he hung up his gloves and took the assistant managers job. Currently manager of Prudhoe Town in the Northern League second division, he still lives and works in the North East..
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