Tommy Caton

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Thomas Stephen "Tommy" Caton (October 6, 1962 – April 30, 1993) was an English football player.

Born in Kirkby Liverpool, Caton was a centre half who played for (and captained) England schoolboys, before signing for Manchester City as an apprentice in 1978. He made his debut on Saturday 18th August 1979 aged 16, and soon became a regular in the City side, playing in the 1981 FA Cup final, when still only 18 years old. He reached 100 First Division games on March 6, 1982, at the age of 19 years and 5 months he was the youngest player in Football League history to achieve this feat. He was also named City's Player of the Year for 1981/82. Tommy scored eight times during his spell at Maine Road, the first one coming in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday 13th March 1982 and he also scored two goals in one game against Arsenal on Saturday 4th December 1982. He scored his final City goal at Gay Meadow, home of Shrewsbury Town FC in a 3-1 City win on Saturday 5th November 1983.

During his City career, Tommy managed to smash a wire reinforced glass window because of the power of his shooting! This happened at the start of the 1982/83 season during a training session one day.

After City were relegated in May 1983, Caton became unsettled and made a transfer request. His wish was granted on 1st December 1983 when he was sold to Arsenal for £500,000. He made his debut against West Bromwich Albion two days later. However, after playing as a first team regular in his first two years at Arsenal as David O'Leary's partner, he was usurped by the young Tony Adams and Martin Keown during the 1985-86 season.

Caton scored three goals in 95 appearances for Arsenal, but had not played a first team game in almost a year before he was sold to Oxford United in February 1987. He was named club captain soon after his arrival and helped United avoid relegation from the First Division during his opening months at the Manor Ground, but was unable to save them from the drop a year later. On 18th December 1987, he was banned from driving for three years at Witney Magistrates Court after being convicted of drink-driving. This conviction came just 2 weeks after the birth of his son Andrew.

He remained at Oxford until November 1988, when he was sold to Charlton Athletic for £100,000. Caton stayed with Charlton after their relegation from the First Division in 1990, but was injured the following January and never played first team football again. He finally announced his retirement in March 1993 having failed to make a full recovery.

Just a month later, on Friday 30th April 1993, he suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 30. His son, Andrew Caton, is currently a midfielder for Swindon Town. He also has a daughter called Claire, who was only three years old when Tommy died and another son called Stephen who was aged just eight and is now a paratrooper in the Army.