Dual international full-back Bill Gorman's career may not have taken him to a glamorous club, but "Old Naked Brains" remains a legend at both Bury and Brentford...Name: William Charles Gorman
Born: 13 July 1911, Sligo
Died: December 1978, Bury (England)
Position: Full-Back
Representative Honours: Ireland: 4 Full Caps (1946-1948); Eire: 13 Full Caps (1936-1947).
Club Career:
Clubs
|
Seasons
|
Signed
|
Fee
|
League
|
FA Cup
|
War-Time
|
Other
|
St
Anthony's
|
-
|
-
|
(Scottish Junior)
|
||||
Clydebank
St James
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
|
Shettleston
Juniors
|
1934
|
-
|
(Scottish Junior)
|
||||
Bury
|
36/37-38/39
|
Sep-34
|
£75
|
52/0
|
2/0
|
-
|
-
|
Brentford
|
38/39-49/50
|
Dec-38
|
£7,000
|
128/0
|
19/0
|
86/0
|
-
|
Manchester
United
|
40/41
|
-
|
Guest
|
-
|
-
|
2/0
|
-
|
Deal
Town
|
-
|
Oct-50
|
-
|
(Kent League)
|
|||
TOTALS
|
-
|
£7,075
|
180/0
|
21/0
|
88/0
|
-
|
|
Biography:
Born prematurely in Sligo while his Scottish father and English mother were on holiday, Bill Gorman was raised in Scotland, and began his playing career there in Junior football. An engineer by trade, he went completely bald by the time he was nineteen. In 1936, at the age of 25, Gorman arrived in the Football League with Division Two Bury.
It was while with the Shakers that he was first selected by the Irish Free State - eligibility criteria of the time deemed him Irish despite his unmistakable Scottish accent - and the ten caps he won at Gigg Lane stands as a club record.
Early in the 1938/39 season, Gorman made a £7,000 move to Division One Brentford, where he is still talked off as one of the clubs greatest ever defenders. In a career interrupted by the Second World War, Gorman made 180 League appearances, all in the top-two Divisions of English football. He continued in the Eire side through to the end of the 1946/47 season.
Gorman was first called-up by the Irish FA's selectors for their first match after the War, playing right-back in a 7-2 defeat by England. Remarkably, he and Johnny Carey played against the same opposition two days later as the English visited Dublin to face Eire. Gorman retained his place in the (Northern) Ireland team for that seasons 0-0 draw with Scotland and 2-1 victory over Wales. His fourth and final cap was won in a 2-0 defeat by Wales in March 1948.
After relegation in 1947, Gorman remained with Brentford through to 1950, but was unable to help them regain their top-flight status. He was appointed player-manager of Deal Town, leading them to the Kent League title in 1954. He left Deal in February 1955 to return to Bury to work as an engineering inspector.
He remained a regular spectator at Bury's matches, and carried out some scouting work for Manchester City. Bill Gorman retired from his inspectors job in March 1975, but suffered ill-health up to his death at the age of 67 in December 1978.
Ireland Cap Details:
28-09-1946 England. H L 2-7 BC
27-11-1946 Scotland A D 0-0 BC
16-04-1947 Wales... H W 2-1 BC
10-03-1948 Wales... A L 0-2 BC
Summary: 4/0. Won 1, Drew 1, Lost 2.
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