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Tommy Tynan

English footballer (born 1955)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ3306751
Source-derived summary

Thomas Edward Tynan (born 17 November 1955) is an English retired professional footballer.

A hard working striker with flowing blonde hair, Tynan was signed as an apprentice for Liverpool by manager Bill Shankly after winning a talent contest run by the Liverpool Echo newspaper, but he never made a first-team appearance for the Reds, and was transferred to Sheffield Wednesday in 1976, where he spent two years and scored 31 goals.

After just nine appearances for Lincoln City in 1978, Tynan moved on to Newport County where he formed a dynamic striking partnership with John Aldridge as the Newport team gained promotion to the Football League Third Division, won the 1980 Welsh Cup and in the subsequent season reached the quarter-final of the 1981 European Cup Winners Cup. Tynan scored both goals in the away leg against Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany, the equalising goal being in the 90th minute but Newport lost the home leg 1–0. In total Tynan scored 66 goals in 183 matches during the most successful period in the club's history.

In 1983, Tynan moved on to Plymouth Argyle where he became a cult figure during the 1980s and is frequently named by Argyle fans as one of the club's all-time greatest players. He was a member of the side which reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1984, scoring the goal which beat then top flight West Bromwich Albion in the fifth round of the competition. Argyle went on to beat Derby County in the quarter-finals before losing to Watford in the penultimate stage of the competition.

In the 1984/85 season, Tynan was joint top scorer in all 4 divisions of the Football League with 31 goals, level with Tranmere's John Clayton. Clayton, ironically, joined Argyle as Tynan's replacement, when Tynan signed for Rotherham United in the summer of 1985.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Tommy Tynan” as english footballer (born 1955). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Tommy, Tynan and English.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1955, 1976, 1978, 1980—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1955-11-17. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Tommy, Tynan and English providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Tommy Tynan”, the useful work is to connect “english footballer (born 1955)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3306751. VIAF identifies the subject as 121558244. The Library of Congress control number is nb2010015180. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1955, 1976, 1978 and 1980.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Tommy Tynan primary sources, Tommy Tynan archive and Tommy research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Tommy Tynan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.