Pat Farrell, most commonly a centre-half, spent two separate seasons with Distillery and won the Irish League title in both...Name: Patrick Farrell
Born: 3 April 1872, Belfast
Died: 1950, Hove
Height: 5.09 ft
Weight: 10.00 st
Position: Half-Back
Representative Honours: Ireland: 2 Full Caps (1901); Irish League: 1 Cap (1901).
Club Honours: (with Distillery) Irish League Champion 1895/96, 1900/01; Irish Cup Winner 1895/96; Co. Antrim Shield Winner 1895/96; City Cup Runner-Up 1895/96; Belfast Charities Cup Runner-Up 1900/01; (with Brighton & Hove Albion) Southern League Division Two Runner-Up (promoted after Test-Match) 1902/03.
Club Career:
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Clubs
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Seasons
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Signed
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Fee
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League
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FA
Cup
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Other
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Ligoniel
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-
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-
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-
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-
|
-
|
|
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Belfast Celtic
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-
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1894
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-
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-
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-
|
-
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Distillery
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95/6
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1895
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-
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-
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-
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-
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Celtic
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96/7
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Aug-96
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-
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0/0
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1/0
|
-
|
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Woolwich Arsenal
|
97/8
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May-97
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-
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19/2
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3/1
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9/3
|
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Brighton United
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98/9-99/0
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May-98
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-
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(Southern League)
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||
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Distillery
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00/1
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Aug-00
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-
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*41/4
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-
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-
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Brighton & H.A.
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01/2-03/4
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Jul-01
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-
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27/0
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10/0
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1/0
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(Southern League)
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||||||
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TOTALS
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£-
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87/6
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13/1
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1/0
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||
Biography:
Having come through Junior football with Ligoniel and Belfast Celtic in the mid-1890s, Pat Farrell’s first season at Distillery coincided with a three trophy haul of League, Irish Cup and Co. Antrim Shield, only being denied the City Cup courtesy of a goal by ‘scrimmage’ in the City Cup play-off replay with Linfield.
Signed by Glasgow Celtic in August 1896, Farrell was merely a squad player at Parkhead, his only first-team appearances coinciding with one of the most shocking results in Scottish Cup history. Celtic were suffering a crisis due to a players’ strike, and started the First Round match with Arthurlie with just seven men. Junior club Arthurlie, had played the role of underdogs to perfection, narrowing the pitch and sending out the team to get “stuck-in”, and ran out 4-2 winners.
The following May Farrell moved south, signing for Woolwich Arsenal in the English Second Division. He made his Gunners debut against Grimsby Town on 1 September 1897 and retained his place for much of the season. In all Farrell played forty times for Arsenal, including reserve games and friendlies, scoring six times.
The "fleet-footed" Farrell stepped ‘down’ to the Southern League with newly formed Brighton United. He played in a total of 57 competitive games while at the County Ground, but the club folded towards the end of the 1899/1900 season, leaving Farrell without a club.
He returned to Distillery, picking up another Irish League title. He also won his first major representative honours, playing for the Irish League in a 2-1 reverse by their Scottish counterparts at the Oval in February 1901, and a week later making his Ireland debut against Scotland. The game finished in an 11-0 defeat, equalling Ireland’s worst result since the 13-0 defeat by England in their first ever international outing. A month later the Irish team regrouped somewhat to finish lose by a single goal against Wales.
Farrell returned to the English south coast in the summer of 1901 to sign for the newly-formed Brighton and Hove Albion. He made his debut for the Seagulls in an FA Cup preliminary round match with Brighton Athletic on 21 September 1901, and was an ever-present in that first season. The following year he helped the club to their first ever promotion, to the Southern League First Division.
An early example of a journey-man professional, by the end of his career Farrell was able to "settle down in comfortable circumstances" in Sussex.
Ireland Cap Details:
23-02-1901 Scotland A L 0-11 BC
23-03-1901 Wales... H L 0- 1 BC
Summary: 2/0. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 2.
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