Tom Sweenie – 1945-2026

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Tom Sweenie – 1945-2026

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of former Leicester City player Tom Sweenie on 7 July, 2026, aged 80.

2026-07-10T13:00+01:00

by Admin

Published

17 Hours 23 Mins Ago

Tom Sweenie – 1945-2026

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of former Leicester City player Tom Sweenie on 7 July, 2026, aged 80.

Admin

2026-07-10T13:00+01:00

Tom Sweenie – 1945-2026

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of former Leicester City player Tom Sweenie on 7 July, 2026, aged 80.

Admin

2026-07-10T13:00+01:00

Tom Sweenie – 1945-2026

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of former Leicester City player Tom Sweenie on 7 July, 2026, aged 80.

Admin

2026-07-10T13:00+01:00

Tom Sweenie – 1945-2026

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of former Leicester City player Tom Sweenie on 7 July, 2026, aged 80.

Admin

2026-07-10T13:00+01:00

Tom was a skilful inside forward who made over 50 appearances for Matt Gillies’ side in the 1960s, until a serious injury prematurely ended his senior career.

Born in Paisley, Tom was spotted by Leicester City as a teenager while he was playing for the Scottish semi-professional club Johnstone Burgh. Although Bill Shankly wanted to sign him for Liverpool, Tom opted to sign for us in June 1963, because he’d been impressed by our performances in the season which had recently ended, when we had been FA Cup finalists and came close to winning the old First Division.

While finishing his apprenticeship as a carpet fitter, Tom made his First Team debut as an 18-year-old in a League Cup tie against Gillingham in November 1963. Three days later, he scored twice when he made his league debut in an old First Division fixture at Blackpool, whose side contained England’s Jimmy Armfield, goalkeeper Tony Waiters, future World Cup winner Alan Ball and Scotland international Tony Green.

Later that season, after several more top flight appearances, Tom also played in Leicester City’s League Cup winning side which defeated Stoke City in the second leg of the final in April 1964. He also featured in the League Cup Final the following campaign too, when we were narrowly defeated by Chelsea.

Until he suffered what proved to be a career ending injury at Nottingham Forest in February 1967, Tom played over 50 First Team games, only one of which was as a substitute when, incidentally, he went into the record books as the first Leicester City player to score from the bench.

After leaving Filbert Street, Tom had a three-month trial at Arsenal in July 1968, to see if he could recover. This was followed by a further trial at Huddersfield and a brief spell at York but, in the end, he had to acknowledge that his professional career was over.

He set up his own carpet fitting business in Leicestershire as well as playing for Burton Albion, Leamington, Bedworth, Shepshed Charterhouse and Enderby Town,

Speaking to us on the occasion of his 80th birthday nearly a year ago, Tom said: “I played with some great players at Leicester: Gordon Banks, Davie Gibson, Derek Dougan, Mike Stringfellow and Jackie Sinclair, who was great striker of the ball. I played against great players too, like Denis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best, Jimmy Greaves, Dave Mackay, Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. The most difficult opponent I faced was (World Cup winner) Nobby Stiles. Looking back, I’m glad that I played in the era that I did. Winning the League Cup was a highlight. I wish I had it on film.”

Tom will be sadly missed and the thoughts of everyone at Leicester City are with his family and friends at this sad time.

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