Tam Courts

Thomas "Tam" Courts (born 10 August 1981) is a Scottish former footballer and is former manager of Lowland League club Kelty Hearts.

Tam Courts
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-08-10) 10 August 1981
Place of birth Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Playing position(s) Central defender
Youth career
Milton Green
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Livingston 5 (0)
2000–2001 → Cowdenbeath (loan) 25 (1)
2002–2004 Kelty Hearts
2004–2006 Hill of Beath Hawthorn
2006–2007 East Fife 26 (0)
2007 → Hill of Beath Hawthorn (loan)
2007–2018 Kelty Hearts
Total 56 (1)
Teams managed
2013–2018 Kelty Hearts
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:30, 12 October 2018

He previously played in the Scottish Football League for Livingston, Cowdenbeath and East Fife. After a previous spell at the club from 2002 to 2004, he rejoined Kelty as a player in 2007 and had been player-manager since 2013 until he resigned from his position as manager on the 11 October 2018.[1]

Playing career

Courts began his professional career at Livingston and made his first team debut in February 1999 against Clyde in a Scottish Football League Second Division game. With Livingston promoted as champions that year, Courts made four league appearances in the First Division the following season before departing for a loan spell at Cowdenbeath.

Courts dropped into Junior football with local Fife sides Kelty Hearts and Hill of Beath Hawthorn after his eventual release by Livingston in 2002. A further spell in the SFL with East Fife in 2006–07 ended with Courts being loaned back to Hill of Beath before joining Kelty for a second time in late 2007.

Courts has also played for the Scotland Junior international team and captained the squad in the 2013 Umbro Quadrangular Trophy in the Republic of Ireland.[2]

Coaching career

After the sacking of Willie Newbigging in October 2013, Courts was appointed player-manager of Kelty Hearts at the age of 32.[3]

Since becoming player-manager at Kelty Hearts, Courts saved the club from relegation before winning the East Region Super League title for the first time in the club's history in 2015. Kelty went onto win the title again in 2017 before joining the East of Scotland Football League.[4]

Kelty won the East of Scotland Football League in 2018 under Tam.[5] and were promoted to the Lowland League, the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system, where they will compete for the first time during the 2018–19 season.[6]

Tam retired from playing to focus on managing Kelty Hearts in the Lowland League, however Tam resigned his position as manager on the 11 October 2018, which the club reluctantly accepted.[1]

References
  1. "Kelty Hearts Football Club on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  2. Campbell, Scott. "Junior Scotland's squad". The Scottish Sun Juniors. Facebook. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  3. https://www.centralfifetimes.com/sport/13549180.tam-courts-takes-over-at-kelty/
  4. "Kelty Hearts join EoS League as they follow SPFL dream". Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  5. "KELTY HEARTS WIN PROMOTION TO LOWLAND LEAGUE". Pars Review. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  6. "The only way is up for Kelty!". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  • Tam Courts at Soccerbase
  • Tam Courts at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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