Kevin McGarry

The first ever recipient of the Ulster Player of the Year Award, Dr. Kevin McGarry remained an amateur throughout his playing career…

Name: Dr. J. Kevin McGarry
Born: c. 1925, Belfast
Died: August 1995 (aged 70)
Height: 5.06 ft
Weight: 10.01 st
Position: Inside-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 3 Full Caps / 1 Goal (1950-1951), 17 Amateur Caps / 6 Goals (1948-1955); Irish FA Representative (1948); Irish League: 15 Caps / 12 Goals (1948-1956); Great Britain (1952 Helsinki Olympics).
Awards: Ulster Footballer of the Year 1951.

Club Career:
Belfast Celtic (Irish League); Cliftonville (Irish League).

Biography:
Kevin McGarry was an amateur on the books of Belfast Celtic in the 1940s prior to signing with Cliftonville. At Solitude he remains a legendary figure, still regarded by many as the club’s greatest ever player. An artist from inside-forward (either left or right), he was also a prolific goalscorer, his haul of twelve in Inter-League fixtures a record for an Irish League player, and a hattrick against the Scots in a 1949 5-2 Amateur international most notable among his achievements.

International honours had first come McGarry’s way whilst he completed his studies at Queen’s University when selected for an Amateur International against England in February 1948. That match ended in a 5-0 defeat, but the following August he played for an Irish FA representative side against a United States team fresh from a 9-0 hammering by Italy in the London Olympics – the Irish had similar success, triumphing 5-2 with McGarry scoring twice. Four years later McGarry himself would make it to the Olympics, though Great Britain (with McGarry’s name absent from the teamsheet) suffered a humiliating 5-3 Preliminary Round exit at the hands of Luxembourg in Helsinki.

Rewarded for his continued good form on both the domestic and international stage with inclusion in Ireland’s 1950/51 Home Nations squad, McGarry made his Full International debut against Scotland at Hampden Park. His “well-taken goal” from a “stinging shot” in the 43rd minute made the scoreline 1-2, the Scots having scored twice in the opening thirteen minutes, and seemed to have rallied the Irish. In the second half however Willie Steel, putting in a Man of the Match performance, scored four times as the Scots completed a 6-1 rout.

After the Scots match, Ireland manager Peter Doherty retained McGarry in his international team for the next two internationals. He was actually switched to inside-left to fill Doherty’s boots in a 2-1 defeat by Wales at Windsor Park, and in May 1951 he was back at inside-right for a 2-2 draw with France on the first occasion that a ‘foreign’ team had played a Full international in Belfast.

McGarry played out his career with Cliftonville, but as the club regularly sat at the foot of the Irish League, the major trophies his talents so deserved eluded him. He later coached at Cliftonville and served on the management committee before rising to become club President.

Ireland Cap Details:
01-11-1950 Scotland A L 1-6 BC 1 Goal
07-03-1951 Wales... H L 1-2 BC
12-05-1951 France.. H D 2-2 FR

Summary: 3/1. Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 2.