Hugh Meek

Name: Hugh Leonard Meek
Born: c.1899, Belfast
Died:
Height:
Weight:
Position: Inside-Left

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Full Cap (1925); Irish FA: 1 Representative Appearance (1922); Irish League: 1 Cap (1921).
Club Honours: (with Glentoran) Irish League Champion 1920/21, 1924/25; Irish Cup Winner 1920/21, Runner-Up 1924/25; Co. Antrim Shield Winner 1920/21, 1924/25; Charity Cup Winner 1924/25.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Broadway United	-	-	-	-	-	-
Cliftonville	-	-	Amateur	-	-	-
Glentoran	20/21-24/25	c/s-20	-	*149/81	-	-
Wolverhampton W.	25/26	Nov-25	-	6/ 1	2/0	-
Shelbourne	-	c/s-26	-	/10	/2	-
Distillery	-	Oct-27	-	-	-	-
Ards	-	-	-	-	-	-
Burradon	-	-	-	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	£-		-	-	-

* all games.

Biography:
A free-scoring inside-left, Hugh Meek leapt from a struggling Cliftonville to a strong Glentoran with consummate ease in 1920. His first season at the Oval brought twelve goals in eight League games and 22 in all competitions as the Glens brought home a trophy treble – League, Cup and Co. Antrim Shield. He was honoured with selection for the Irish League’s match against the Scottish League at Ibrox in January 1921, and was joined by seven other Glens players in a 3-0 defeat.

Although Linfield claimed a clean-sweep in 1921/22, leaving Meek and Glentoran trophy-less, he scored the goal that condemned the Blues to their only competitive defeat of the season - a 1-0 Gold Cup defeat on 17 April. At the end of the season he was selected for the Irish FA’s tour of Norway and he played at outside-left in a 3-2 inter-association win over a Norwegian FA eleven in Kristiania (now Oslo).

It wasn’t until the 1924/25 campaign that Meek and Glentoran really hit their stride again. He scored 19 goals in 39 appearances, including the winner against Belfast Celtic in the Co. Antrim Shield Final, as the Glens won another “treble”, reclaiming the Irish League and also taking the Charity Cup from Celtic. It could so easily have a trophy quintet, but Distillery defeated the East-Belfastmen 2-1 in the Irish Cup Final and early the following season Queen’s Island claimed the held-over City Cup after three test matches.

Meek moved to England with Division Two Wolves in late-November 1925 and he made his debut on Christmas Day in a 2-1 win at Oldham. He lasted just six-months with the midland club, as they again failed in their long battle to regain top-flight status. There followed a season in the Free State League with Shelbourne, who narrowly missed out on the title, before he returned to Belfast to join Distillery. With the Whites Meek had the honour of scoring the first goal on the club’s return to Grosvenor, a penalty in a 2-0 win over Ards on 12 November 1927. It was one of eleven goals he scored in the 1927/28 campaign.

Ireland Cap Details:
18-04-1925 Wales... A D 0-0 BC

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

With thanks to Martin O'Connor.