Billy Toms Billy Toms William Toms (born 19 May 1895, date of death unknown) was an Irish footballer. His regular position was as a forward. He was born in Curragh. Toms became a professional after the Great War, in which he was awarded the Military Cross. After the war he broke into Manchester United's first team playing 14 games for them in his first season, but was allowed to leave and joined Plymouth Argyle for £500 in September 1920. He went on to play for Oldham Athletic, Coventry City, Stockport County, Wrexham and Crewe Alexandra in the Football League. Coventry were the
Carl Toms the next major course of his life by introducing Toms to Oliver Messel with whom he would eventually apprentice with from 1952 to 1957. Toms' first job under Messel was to make models for a penthouse suite at the Dorchester Hotel. At the same time Messel was working on a new ballet for the Royal Opera House commissioned to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and three successive operas at Glyndebourne Festival, all of which Toms assisted on. Messel had a strong interest and passion for French culture which highly influenced his work. As a result, Toms' work became