Irvine Thornley was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who played as a centre-forward.

Thornley combined football with a career as a butcher

Butcher

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...

 in his hometown of Glossop

Glossop

Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...

. He first played for local clubs Glossop Villa, Glossop St. James, making his Football League debut with Glossop North End

Glossop North End A.F.C.

Glossop North End A.F.C. are an English football club based in Glossop, Derbyshire. Former members of the Football League, they are currently in the North West Counties League and are members of the Derbyshire County Football Association. They play their home matches at Surrey Street, which has a...

. In 1904 he moved to Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 for £800, making his debut on 9 April, a 2-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

. With a reputation as a controversial character, he was sent off a number of times in his career. He made one appearance for the England national team

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

, a 1-1 draw with Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 on 18 March 1907. Later that year he was one of the players present it the first ever meeting of the Professional Footballers' Association

Professional Footballers' Association

The Professional Footballers' Association is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. The world's oldest professional sport trade union, it has 4,000 members....

. In total he made 204 appearances for Manchester City, scoring 93 times.

In 1912 he signed for South Shields

South Shields F.C.

South Shields F.C. are a football club based in South Shields, England. They have a long and complicated history, with three distinct incarnations taking the name...

 where he scored 154 goals in three seasons, and later played for Hamilton Academical

Hamilton Academical F.C.

Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Academical, or Accies, are a Scottish football club from Hamilton in South Lanarkshire. They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilton Academy. They remain the only professional club in British football to have...

.