Tom 'Pongo' Waring

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Thomas (Tom) 'Pongo' Waring (October 12, 1906 - December 20, 1980) was an English footballer.

Nicknamed 'Pongo' after a famous cartoon of the time, Waring is one of Aston Villa's all-time great centre-forwards.

He signed for Tranmere Rovers in 1926, scored 6 of the 11 goals they put past Durham City F.C., and then moved on to Aston Villa for £4,700 two years later. A crowd of 23,000 saw him play on his Villa debut in a reserve game against local rivals Birmingham, in which he scored a hat-trick.

His 226 appearances for Villa yielded 167 goals, including 10 hat-tricks and a club record 49 goals in the 1930-31 season.

In November 1935, Waring went to Barnsley, angering the Villa fans and prompting 5,000 of them to call for his return to the club. After a spell at Barnsley, Waring also played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tranmere (again), Accrington Stanley, Bath City, Ellesmere Port Town, Graysons F.C., Birkenhead Dockers and Harrowby. Finally, he guested for New Brighton in 1939-40.

Waring was also capped five times by England.

Pongo Waring also worked for The Hercules Motor and Cycle Company in Aston. www.madeinbirmingham.org