Tom Cairney

Thomas Cairney (born 20 January 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Fulham, whom he captains, and the Scotland national team. Cairney has previously played for Hull City and Blackburn Rovers. Born in England, he made his full international debut for Scotland in March 2017. Cairney had previously represented Scotland at under-19 and under-21 levels.

Club Career

Early career

Cairney was released from the Leeds United youth system at the age of 16 after being told he was too small. He had been with the club since the age of seven. Reflecting on his time at Leeds United, he said: "To be honest it crushed me, it crushed me a lot, I was with Leeds from I was seven to 16 so it was a big part of my life. I was going there three-four times a week, missing days of schools, and obviously my mum and dad had put a lot into it too. So getting released at 16, it just felt like, 'oh no, after all that effort'. But I was determined I would not stop there. I went to Hull and they offered me a YTS as they obviously saw something. And from 16–18 I shot up in height and then it went back to my footballing ability. From getting released at 16 to making my Premier League debut – if you wrote it down you wouldn't believe it. I owe a lot to (then Hull manager) Phil Brown as he believed in me. I think the academy staff at Leeds must have got a bit of a shock when they saw me playing in the Premier League! I don't know what happened to them but I think they may have got a telling off!"

Hull City

Hull City gave Cairney a chance when they signed him to a youth contract in 2007. Cairney was named as Hull's Young Player of the Year for the 2008–09 season. For this, he signed a two-year contract with the club in June 2009.

He played for Hull against Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the pre-season Premier League Asia Trophy in Beijing on 31 July 2009. His first-team debut came against Southend United in the League Cup on

This page also has a version in other languages :  Том Кэрни (russian)