Tom Bromilow proved to be one of Liverpool’s ‘luckiest signings’, appearing from out of the blue to win two league championships.
Formerly of the army, Bromilow approached the Reds as the First World War ended and asked for a trial.
“He came to the ground in uniform during the war and asked for a game… and was an instant success,” recalled club secretary George Patterson.
“When the war ended, he signed as a professional. Eventually he took his place in the first team. I should think that it is one of the luckiest signings I have made.”
A cultured midfielder, the Liverpudlian debuted in October 1919 and would be a mainstay of ‘the Untouchables’, the Reds side who won back-to-back league titles in 1921-22 and 1922-23.
Bromilow played in 81 of the 84 matches across those two campaigns in the first Liverpool squad to successfully defend the championship.
While that collective achievement could not be maintained, he remained an important figure throughout the rest of his time at the club, including an ever-present league season almost a decade after he arrived, in 1927-28.
His final outing in the shirt came in May 1930 but his impact would be remembered long after.
In a 1966 poll to decide Liverpool’s greatest players up to that point, conducted by the Kop newspaper, supporters selected Bromilow in the XI.
