Lives in Cricket No 20 - Maurice Tompkin

Against Southampton on 1 October, ‘Tompkin showed splendid form’ and this time they won, 4-2. Up to 8 October, he had played in seven out of the eight games played; however they then played Coventry away. Until this time, there had only been positive feedback, but it is interesting to note that Maurice had still not scored a goal; in fact he had not scored a goal since his first game for the Reserves back in March. The Coventry game marked a change. Sporting rivalry is strong in the Midlands, helped by the three principal spectator sports having a strong presence. The football rivalry between Leicester and Coventry is only exceeded in intensity by the rivalry between Leicester and Nottingham or Derby. Leicester always looked down on Northampton’s football, but was often severely challenged on the rugby or cricket field by their neighbours to the southeast. Leicester received another heavy defeat at Coventry, this time 4-0, and Maurice was singled out for special mention: ‘With only the keeper to beat, Tompkin shot wide, and he later missed badly.’ With Leicester City’s Division One team doing badly, manager Frank Womack was under pressure to make changes. For two long months, Maurice did not play for the Reserves, but he returned on 3 December for a home match against Portsmouth, a win and the comment ‘Coutts and Tompkin were the shining lights’. On 17 December, Leicester thrashed Northampton 7-3, with the comment that there was ‘good work by the wings’, of which Maurice was one, but he did not score any of the goals. On Christmas Eve, they managed to lose to Southend 6-1, and the comment was that ‘Tompkin had quite recovered from his injury, and his work on the right was advantageous’. There is the feeling that Maurice was a popular young sportsman, and the readers liked to see him mentioned. But still there were no goals and he did not play in the Reserves again until April when he played against Portsmouth and West Ham. It cannot have been much of a surprise to him that he was given a free transfer, but there were apparently no takers. The local newspaper noted that five of the ten players not re-engaged were ‘local’, attempting perhaps to exaggerate this issue, but made no more comment on the subject. It did point out that in the game that he had played, little was seen of the Leicester attack. Frank Womack had signed him, and Leicester City were demoted to Division Two after the 1938/39 season and Womack departed with the relegation. Football winters 36 Pin-up boy. Maurice as a young footballer in 1938.