Tommy Cummings

Thomas Smith Cummings (12 September 1928 – 12 July 2009) was an English football player and manager. In 1961 he was elected chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association following the resignation of Jimmy Hill.

Cummings was born in Sunderland, County Durham and started his football career at Hylton Colliery Juniors. Such was his quality as a centre-half he was invited to Strasbourg in 1947 to represent Great Britain in a junior international tournament. In the same year he signed a professional contract with Burnley, also opting to continue his apprenticeship as a mining engineer.

In March 1963 he was appointed player-manager of Mansfield Town leading them to promotion from Division Four at the end of the season. reportedly on a three-year contract at £5,000 per year. His predecessor Dick Taylor had made heavy investment in new players had failed disastrously, resulting in Villa being relegated to the Second Division and plunging the club deep into financial trouble. According to Charlie Aitken, Cummings did little to prevent Villa's slide down the tables. He was a drinker and the players had little respect for him. Tommy Cummings was sacked in November 1968, with Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two.

After retiring from football he went on to becoming a licensee and ran pubs in and around Burnley, including the Shooters Arms in Nelson.

Honours Burnley Football League First Division: 1959–60 FA Cup runner-up: 1961–62