Tony Sealy

English footballer

Tony Sealy
Sealy in 2014
Personal information
Full name Anthony John Sealy[1]
Date of birth (1959-05-07) 7 May 1959 (age 64)[2]
Place of birth Hackney, London, England[2]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Position(s) Forward[2]
Youth career
Wallsend Boys Club
1975–1977 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1979 Southampton 7 (0)
1979–1981 Crystal Palace 24 (5)
1980 → Port Vale (loan) 17 (6)
1981–1983 Queens Park Rangers 63 (18)
1982 → Port Vale (loan) 6 (4)
1983 → Fulham (loan) 5 (1)
1984–1985 Fulham 20 (10)
1985–1987 Leicester City 39 (7)
1987 → AFC Bournemouth (loan) 13 (2)
1987–1988 Sporting Lisbon 29 (9)
1988 S.C. Braga 4 (0)
1988–1989 Brentford 12 (4)
1989 Swindon Town 0 (0)
1989–1991 Bristol Rovers 37 (7)
1991 MYPA 7 (0)
1991–1992 Brentford 18 (0)
1992–1993 Michelotti (10)
1993–1994 Eastern (5)
1994–1996 Hong Kong FC
Total 301+ (88+)
Managerial career
1995–2016 Hong Kong FC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Anthony John Sealy (born 7 May 1959) is an English former footballer who played as a forward.

He graduated from Wallsend Boys Club to Southampton, and appeared for the "Saints" in the 1979 Football League Cup final after helping the club win promotion out of the Second Division in 1977–78. He joined Crystal Palace in 1979, before moving on to Queens Park Rangers two years later. After a loan spell at Port Vale, he helped QPR to top the Second Division 1982–83. He signed with Fulham in 1984, before ending up at Leicester City a year later. In 1987, he was loaned out to AFC Bournemouth, before moving to Portugal to sign with Sporting Lisbon and later S.C. Braga. He returned to England in 1988, spending brief periods at Brentford, Swindon Town, and Bristol Rovers. He won Third Division championship medals with Bristol Rovers in 1989–90 and with Brentford in 1991–92. In 1991, he played for Finnish side MYPA, before returning to Brentford. He then moved to Hong Kong, playing for Michelotti, Eastern, and Hong Kong FC.

He was appointed manager at Hong Kong FC in 1995. Under his management the club won the Second Division in 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, and won promotion in 2013–14, but failed to establish themselves in the First Division.

Playing career

Sealy was born in Hackney, London, to a Barbadian father, and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne.[4] He signed his first professional contract with Lawrie McMenemy's Southampton in 1977. He was the second black player to play for Southampton after Alf Charles in 1937.[5] The "Saints" won promotion to the First Division as Second Division runners-up in 1977–78. He appeared as a substitute in the 1979 League Cup final at Wembley, replacing Austin Hayes after 83 minutes; Nottingham Forest won the game 3–2.

Sealy signed with top-flight rivals Crystal Palace on 29 March 1979, then managed by Terry Venables.[2] Whilst at Palace he was sent out on loan to John McGrath's Port Vale in February 1980; after impressing at Vale Park with six goals in 17 Fourth Division games, he returned to Selhurst Park in May of that year.[6] Palace were relegated in 1980–81, and Sealy followed Venables to Second Division Queens Park Rangers for a fee of £80,000 in March 1981.[2]

Sealy made his QPR debut in the 3–1 win over Derby County in March 1981 and went on to play 63 league games, scoring 18 goals. In February 1982, he was once more loaned out to Port Vale, once again impressing with four goals in six games; but the club could not afford to secure his services permanently and he returned to Rangers the following month.[7] In 1982–83, he finished as QPR's top scorer with 16 goals (ahead of Clive Allen and Simon Stainrod), and Rangers topped the Second Division, finishing ten points ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After a loan spell with Fulham, he moved to Craven Cottage permanently in 1984. Following a ninth-place finish in the Second Division in 1984–85, he again switched clubs, this time settling with Leicester City. He helped Gordon Milne's side to avoid relegation out of the top-flight by a single point in 1985–86, however, the "Foxes" were relegated in 1986–87. Following a loan spell with Harry Redknapp's AFC Bournemouth, where he won the 3rd Division title Sealy then left the UK and played for Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon, scoring four goals in the 1987–88 Cup Winners' Cup. He played both legs of the 1987 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira final victory over Benfica. Lisbon finished fourth in the Primeira Liga in 1987–88, and Sealy moved on to mid-table side S.C. Braga.

He then returned to London to play for Brentford in the Third Division; Steve Perryman's "Bees" missed out on the play-offs by four points in 1988–89, and Sealy moved to Bristol Rovers via Swindon Town. Rovers topped the Third Division in 1989–90 under manager Gerry Francis, two points ahead of rivals City. After the 1990–91 campaign, Sealy moved to Finland with MYPA, returning to Brentford in 1991. Brentford won the Third Division in 1991–92, after which Sealy moved to Hong Kong the next year with Michelotti, Eastern and Hong Kong FC.

Management career

He became manager of Hong Kong FC in 1995, a position he maintained until 2002, when he was promoted to Operations Manager.[8] HKFC became a classic "yo-yo" club,[8] winning promotion as Second Division champions in 1997–98, they actually refused promotion to the First Division, and so again topped the Second Division in 1998–99. After winning the division again in 2000–01, they this time accepted promotion, but only managed four points from twelve games in 2001–02, but were not relegated despite finishing in last place. They finished bottom again in 2002–03, but won the Second Division again in 2004–05 and 2005–06. They finished ninth in the ten team First Division in 2006–07, and were again relegated. They won promotion as Second Division champions in 2009–10, but picked up just five points from 18 games in 2010–11, and so were again relegated. The club finished third in 2011–12, finishing one point behind promoted Southern District RSA. After a fifth-place finish in 2012–13, promotion was secured with a third-place finish in 2013–14.

Personal life

His son, Jack, is also a football player, and has represented Hong Kong at international level.

Career statistics

Source:[9][10][11]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Southampton 1977–78 Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1978–79 First Division 5 0 0 0 1 0 6 0
Total 7 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
Crystal Palace 1978–79 Second Division 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
1979–80 First Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1980–81 Second Division 19 5 1 0 2 0 22 5
Total 24 5 1 0 2 0 27 5
Port Vale (loan) 1979–80 Fourth Division 17 6 0 0 0 0 17 6
Queens Park Rangers 1980–81 Second Division 8 2 0 0 0 0 8 2
1981–82 Second Division 7 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
1982–83 Second Division 40 16 1 0 2 0 43 16
1983–84 First Division 8 0 0 0 1 0 9 0
Total 63 18 1 0 4 0 68 18
Port Vale (loan) 1981–82 Fourth Division 6 4 0 0 0 0 6 4
Fulham 1983–84 Second Division 5 1 0 0 0 0 5 1
1984–85 Second Division 13 7 0 0 0 0 13 7
1985–86 Second Division 7 3 0 0 0 0 7 3
Total 25 11 0 0 0 0 25 11
Leicester City 1985–86 First Division 21 6 0 0 2 0 23 6
1986–87 First Division 18 1 0 0 2 0 20 1
Total 39 7 0 0 1 0 43 7
AFC Bournemouth (loan) 1986–87 Third Division 13 2 0 0 0 0 13 2
Brentford 1988–89 Third Division 12 4 1 0 1 0 14 4
Swindon Town 1989–90 Second Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bristol Rovers 1989–90 Third Division 19 3 1 0 4 1 24 4
1990–91 Second Division 18 4 0 0 0 0 18 4
Total 30 4 4 1 2 2 36 7
Brentford 1991–92 Third Division 18 0 3 1 1 2 22 3
Career total 261 64 7 1 17 3 285 68

Honours

Southampton

Queens Park Rangers

AFC Bournemouth

Sporting Lisbon

Bristol Rovers

Brentford

Hong Kong FC

References

  1. ^ "Tony Sealy". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Profile". holmesdale.net. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  3. ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 210. ISBN 0362020175.
  4. ^ McHugh, Fionnuala. "Tony Sealy". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Alf paved the way for Saints' black roll of honour". The Daily Echo. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
  6. ^ Fielding, Rob (17 June 2019). "Five of the best Port Vale loan signings". onevalefan.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  7. ^ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 261. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  8. ^ a b "Brits Abroad: Tony Sealy on life in Hong Kong". talksport.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  9. ^ Tony Sealy at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  10. ^ Tony Sealy at Soccerbase Edit this at Wikidata
  11. ^ "Profile". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 459. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.