Tony Sealy

Tony Sealy
	Sealy in 2014.
Personal information
Full name	Anthony John Sealy[1]
Date of birth	7 May 1959[2]
Place of birth	Hackney, London, England[2]
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Playing position(s)	Forward[2]
Youth career
	Wallsend Boys Club
1975–1977	Southampton
Senior career*
Teams managed
1995–2016	Hong Kong FC
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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 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 in 1979, then managed by Terry Venables. 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.[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 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.

Statistics

Source:[9][10][11]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	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
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

Football League Second Division runner-up: 1977–78[12]
League Cup runner-up: 1979[12]

Queens Park Rangers

Football League Second Division champion: 1982–83[12]

Bournemouth

Football League Third Division Champion: 1986–87[12]

Sporting Lisbon

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira winner: 1987

Bristol Rovers

Football League Third Division champion: 1989–90[12]

Brentford

Football League Third Division champion: 1991–92[12]

Hong Kong FC

Hong Kong Second Division League champion: 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10
Hong Kong Second Division League third-place promotion: 2013–14

References

"Tony Sealy". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
"Profile". holmesdale.net. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 210. ISBN 0362020175.
McHugh, Fionnuala. "Tony Sealy". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
"Alf paved the way for Saints' black roll of honour". The Daily Echo. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
Fielding, Rob (17 June 2019). "Five of the best Port Vale loan signings". onevalefan.co.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 261. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
"Brits Abroad: Tony Sealy on life in Hong Kong". talksport.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
Tony Sealy at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
Tony Sealy at Soccerbase
"Profile". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
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.

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[1] "Tony Sealy". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.

[holmesdale-2] "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.

[seit-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.

[hk-8] "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

[neilbrown-11] "Profile". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 5 February 2012.

[FATS-12] 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.