Born: 2 January 1950, Coleraine*
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight: 12.00 st
Position: Forward
Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 1 Under-23 Cap / 1 Goal (1969), 1 Amateur Cap (1967); 2 Irish League Caps (1970).
Club Honours: (with Coleraine) Irish Cup Winner 1971/72.
Club Career:
Clubs
|
Seasons
|
Signed
|
Fee
|
League
|
FA
Cup
|
FL
Cup
|
Europe
|
Other
|
Coleraine
|
-
|
-
|
Amateur
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Fulham
|
67/68-68/69
|
Feb-68
|
-
|
2(2)/0
|
1(0)/2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Millwall
|
69/70
|
Jul-69
|
-
|
0(0)/0
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Coleraine
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
4(0)/1
|
-
|
TOTALS
|
£-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
4(0)/1
|
-
|
||
Biography:
Transferred as a teenager from home-town club Coleraine to Fulham, Brendan Mullan never quite made it in English football. He played just twice in the 1967/68 run-in as the Cottagers finished bottom of the First Division and were relegated. While the club's poor form continued in the Second Division, Mullan was still almost completely overlooked.
It was a flu epidemic in the run-up to an FA Cup third-round tie at Sunderland in January 1969 that gave Mullan a chance to impress. Although the First Division side took an early lead, Mullan scored twice, including one from twenty yards, as Fulham cruised to a shock 4-1 win. Thereafter he disappeared into the Craven Cottage shadows as Fulham suffered a second successive relegation.
One other highlight of Mullan's time at Fulham was his goalscoring appearance for Northern Ireland Under-23s in a 2-1 defeat by Italy at Brescia in March 1969. That summer he joined Millwall, but his chances at the Den were even more limited than they had been at Fulham.
Mullan returned to Bertie Peacock's high-flying Coleraine mid-way through the 1969/70 season. He quickly proved his worth, playing twice for the Irish League, in a 2-0 win over the League of Ireland and a 5-0 defeat by the Football League, during 1970. In 1972 he collected an Irish Cup winner's medal when the Bannsiders defeated Portadown 2-1 at Windsor Park. Another highlight of his time at the Showgrounds was a goal against Kilmarnock in the Fairs Cup as Coleraine recorded a rare Irish League two-legged win in Europe.
With his playing days behind him Mullan spent a couple of seasons as Coleraine's assistant-manager under ex-international 'keeper, Vic Hunter. He left to concentrate on his job in the textiles industry and to raise his family.
Northern Ireland Under-23 Cap Details:
26-03-1969 Italy... A L 1-2 1 Goal
Summary: 1/1. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 1.
Northern Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
14-01-1967 Wales... A D 3-3
Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 0.
* Full name also listed as Brendan Gerard Joseph Mullan and date of birth as 20 January 1950.
Coleraine FC's Brendan Mullan signs an autograph for a fan (1960s) 🔵⚪
Posted by Irish Football Memories on Thursday, 11 June 2020
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