Tom Mutton will always be remembered most for his lethal finishing

Tommy Mutton. Picture: http://www.nomads.co.uk

It seems hard to believe that Tommy Mutton turned 43 yesterday (January 17).

To many he will be remembered mostly as the lightning quick youngster who scored a bundle of goals wherever he played.

Huddersfield-born Mutton first emerged through the Denbigh Town junior system before becoming an apprentice at Burnley FC.

In 1997-98 he split his time between League of Wales club Rhyl and Denbigh of the Cymru Alliance, where he amassed 28 goals in just 25 appearances. One particular performance, where he destroyed Glantraeth with a four-goal salvo in a 6-2 victory, particularly stood out.

Mutton kept banging in the goals for Denbigh the following season prior to landing a move to LoW club Bangor City, where he notched eight league goals in 1998-99.

In September 1999, a shot at the big-time beckoned as Swansea City paid around £25,000 for his signature.

He made his Football League Division Three debut as a substitute in that month’s 2-0 defeat at Hull City, then played against top-flight Derby County in the Worthington Cup second round.

Failing to secure a regular first-team slot, he made seven League appearances and was loaned to Merthyr Tydfil prior to joining Rhyl in March 2001.

He moved on to Caernarfon Town, then first joined Connah’s Quay Nomads in 2002.

In his first season at Deeside Stadium, Mutton scored 23 goals from 31 starts. The following two seasons saw Mutton continue his fine form with 31 goals from 63 appearances before rejoining Rhyl briefly in 2005.

Mutton quickly returned to the Quay and bagged another three goals in 13 starts in the 2005-06 campaign. In 2006-07 he scored 12 in 28 starts before departing in the summer to join Newtown.

The striker was back in Deeside briefly in 2008-09, leaving his Nomads total at 71 goals from 142 (+11) appearances.

Tommy scored 114 Welsh Premier goals in total and is 23rd in the league’s all-time list.

He later joined Bala Town in the Cymru Alliance, winning plenty of medals and more recently played at Corwen under the managership of former Denbigh Town team-mate Danny Jellicoe.