Billy Murray

Name: William Murray
Born: East Belfast, c.1954
Height:
Weight:
Position: Winger

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 1 Under-21 Cap; Irish League: 1 Cap.
Club Honours: (with Linfield) Irish League Champion; Irish Cup Winner 1977/78, 1981/82, Runner-Up 1982/83, 1984/85 ...

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Europe	Other
Portadown	-	-	Youth	-	-	-	-
Linfield	77/78-87/88	Nov-77	£7k	/57	/4	10(3)/0	/71
Ballyclare Com.	88/89-90/91	Aug-88	-	#1(0)/ 0	-	-	#2(1)/ 0
Cookstown Utd	-	Mar-91	-	-	-	-	-
TOTALS	-	£7k		-	-	10(3)/0	-

# data for senior games only (1990/91)

Biography:
A Linfield fan as a boy, Billy Murray (inevitably nicknamed "Ruby" or "Minto" by various wags) made his mark on the Irish League scene in the late-1970s.

He began his senior career with Portadown after being spotted by Gibby McKenzie playing schoolboy football. He enjoyed rapid elevation to the first eleven and was a prolific goalscorer from the left-wing.

In 1977 Roy Coyle identified Murray as a potential key component in re-establishing Linfield at the top of the Irish League. It took a local-record-fee to take him to Windsor Park, and in the next year he had claimed the first of many honours, the Irish League and Cup, an Under-21 cap and had represented the Irish League against their Scottish counterparts.

Murray's mesmerising skills were to dazzle the Linfield fans for over a decade and brought admiring glances from further afield. Billy Bingham included him in the provisional squad for the 1982 World Cup finals. In 1987 he enjoyed a testimonial against Shamrock Rovers, and when he left Linfield the following year at the age of 34, Rovers actually attempted to sign him. He decided to remain closer to home and joined B Division Ballyclare Comrades and played for them in their first season as a senior club in 1990/91.

Later Murray settled in Lanzarote and his legendary status with Linfield was recognised in 2017 when he became the tenth recipient of the Torrans Trophy and was also presented honoury life membership of the club.

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
08-03-1978 Rep. Ireland A D 1-1 FR sub

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

Irish League Representative Match Details:
01-11-1978 Scotland A D 1-1

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

Domestic Seasonal Goals Record:

Season	Tot	IL	IC	CC	GC	UC	CAS	AIC	CAC
Portadown
-	?	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
75/76	15	4	-	4	-	7	-	-	-
76/77	24	10	5	-	2	7	-	-	-
77/78	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Linfield
77/78	13	9	-	-	-	-	1	3
78/79	23	6	1	-	2	14	-	-	-
79/80	7	-	-	-	2	5	-	-	-
80/81	14	8	-	-	3	3	-	-	-
81/82	19	13	1	-	2	3	-	-	-
82/83	20	6	1	-	2	8	3	-	-
83/84	16	5	1	-	5	4	1	-	-
84/85	4	2	-	-	-	2	-	-	-
85/86	3	2	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
86/87	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
87/88	8	5	-	-	2	-	-	-	1
Ballyclare Comrades
90/91	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	167	71	9	4	21	53	5	3	1

Michael Smith

Name: Michael Smith
Born: 4 September 1988, Ballyclare
Height: 5.11 ft / 1.80 m
Weight: 
Position: Defender

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full, 1 Under-23 Cap, Junior, Youth.

Club Career:
Teams ............. --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- -League- FA Cup FL Cup Other
Greenisland BC ....................... Youth
Ballyclare Comrades .............. -05
Ballymena United .. 08/09-10/11 Jan-09 
Bristol Rovers .... 11/12-13/14 Jun-11 ..... 84(17)/1 6(0)/0 3(1)/1 3(0)/0
Peterborough United 14/15-16/17 Jul-14 Undis
Heart of Midlothian 17/18- date Jun-17 Nom'l

Biography:
Versatile defender who earned his first senior call-up for the March 2016 friendlies against Wales and Slovenia.

More to follow.

Wikipedia
Soccerbase

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
28-03-2016 Slovenia H W 1-0 FR
still active

Northern Ireland Under-23 Cap Details:
24-11-2009 Wales... H D 2-2 ICT

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

Joel Cooper

Name: Joel Cooper
Born: 29 February 1996
Height:
Weight:
Position: Winger/Forward

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Under-21; Northern Ireland Eastern Region (2015).
Club Honours: (with Glenavon) Irish Cup Winner 2015/16; NIFL Charity Shield Winner 2016.
Awards: NIFWA Young Player of the Year 2015/16.

Club Career:
Teams... --Seasons-- Signed
Ballyclare Comrades
Glenavon 15/16-17/18 Jul-15
University of New Hampshire
Linfield 18/19- .... Jun-18


Biography:
An exciting winger, Joel Cooper was invited to train with the senior Northern Ireland squad in the build-up to Euro 2016, and traveled to France to help out with training sessions.

Cooper had come to the attentions of senior clubs while playing for Ballyclare Comrades, representing the Northern Ireland Eastern Region at the 2015 UEFA Regions Cup. Glenavon won the race for Cooper's signature in June 2015. He earned rapid elevation to the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad while still just 19 and by the end of his first season at Mourneview he had won an Irish Cup medal following a 2-0 final win over Linfield.

In August 2017 Cooper left Glenavon to take up a two-and-a-half year scholarship in the USA at the University of New Hampshire. However, he returned to Glenavon in December and, despite being offered a longer-term deal, signed a pre-contract to join Linfield for the 2018/19 season.

More to follow.

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
17-11-2015 Ukraine H L 1-2 ECQ sub
still active

William Anderson

Name: William Anderson
Born: Ballymena
Height:
Weight:
Position: Inside-Forward

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Amateur Cap (1947).
Club Honours: (with Ballymena) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1950/51.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	Other
Ballymena United	46/47-47/48	Aug-46	Amateur	33/3	4/0	7/1
Ballyclare Comrades	-	-	-	(Intermediate)
Ballymena United	50/51-51/52	Aug-50	Amateur	14/0	5/1	8/2
TOTALS	-	£0		47/3	9/1	15/3

Biography:
William ‘Nipper’ Anderson, was an immediate post-war inside forward whose exploits in the Intermediate leagues earned him a promotion to senior football with his hometown team, Ballymena United in August 1946.

Recruited by manager William Reid, Anderson was to form part of a new look Ballymena side who had returned to competitive football after a six year hiatus due to their grounds being used as part of the Second World War effort. His efforts in United’s 1946/47 Northern Regional League campaign merited his sole Amateur international cap against England. Despite being a regular on the teamsheet throughout the 1947/48 season at the Showgrounds, Nipper missed out on a place in the team for the County Antrim Shield final win against Linfield in May 1948 and left the club soon after – returning to the intermediate league to play regular football including a spell with Ballyclare Comrades.

Two years later new boss Norman Kernaghan brought Anderson back to senior football for the 1950/51 season and played a key role in the team’s run to the final of the Irish Cup, even scoring the winning goal in the semi-final against Portadown. Defeat to Glentoran in the showpiece left the local forward with only a runners-up medal for his efforts though. United also reached the final of the County Antrim Shield again, which this time Anderson started, but the 2-2 with Cliftonville and the lack of available dates during the remainder of the season meant the replay would be held over until the following August.

By August, his mentor Kernaghan had left as manager and the club’s committee drafted in a raft of new faces as the club fielded six new players for the replay in August 1951. This meant no space in the team for William, who made only the one appearance that season before leaving the club for a second time.

Nipper continued playing in the local area, and went on to become a much loved and respected manager in junior circles and also managed Ballymena United’s reserve team.

Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
08-02-1947 England A L 1-3

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

Courtesy of www.ballymenaunitedfc.com.

Ross Glendinning

Born: Ross Glendinning

Born: 18 May 1993

Height:

Weight:

Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Under-21 (2012-date), Youth, 7 Under-16 Schoolboy Caps (2009).
Club Honours: (with Ballymena) NIFL Cup Winner 2016/17.

Club Career:

Teams ......... --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- League FACup FLCup Europe Other

Greenisland .......................... Youth 

Linfield ...... 11/12- date Feb-12 Youth 69(-)/0

Ballyclare Com. 11/12 ..... Jul-11 .Loan 13(0)/0 .... 1(0)/0
Ballymena Utd . 16/17- date Jul-16 .Loan
Ballymena Utd . 17/18- date Jun-17

Biography:

Son of Mark, Ross Glendinning won Schoolboy caps while at Glengormley High School. He came through the ranks at Linfield, adding Under-17 caps to his collection. Having spent the first half of the 2011/12 season on loan at Ballyclare Comrades, Glendinning made his Linfield début towards the end of the season with a couple of substitute appearances against Cliftonville and Coleraine as the Blues regular 'keepers, Alan Blayney and Stuart Addis struggled with injury. 

With Blayney again injured, Glendinning's first senior club starts came early in the following campaign as B36 Torshavn were defeated on penalties in the UEFA Champions League preliminary round, however he returned to the bench when Blayney regained his fitness. Glendinning's club performances earned him elevation to the Northern Ireland Under-21 panel that travelled to Hungary for a friendly in August 2012 and he made his début from the bench.

Over the following few seasons Glendinning found himself battling for a starting place at Linfield against Jonny Tuffey, finally permanently displacing the Northern Ireland international during the 2014/15 season. For the 2015/16 season Glendinning was undisputed first choice for the Blues, but they club were suffering an uncharacteristic barren spell. He was injured in the weeks prior to the 2016 Irish Cup final and took a place on the bench for a 2-0 defeat by Glenavon as relative-rookie Gareth Deane was favoured. 

In the summer of 2016 David Healy signed Roy Carroll and Glendinning was sent on loan to Ballymena where he would once again vie with Alan Blayney for a starting place. Having seen off Blayney, Glendinning's move to Ballymena became permanent for the following season.

Irish FA
IFA Premiership
Linfield FC
UEFA

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
15-08-2012 Hungary A L 2-3 FR sub
10-09-2012 Denmark A L 0-3 ECQ
09-11-2012 England A L 0-2 FR sub
31-05-2013 Cyprus. A L 0-3 ECQ
14-08-2013 Denmark H L 1-4 FR sub 
still active.

Dickie Horner

Name: Richard Horner
Born: Belfast
Height:
Weight:
Position: Inside-Right

Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Amateur Cap (1939), 2 Schoolboy Caps (1933).
Club Honours: (with Ballymena) Irish Cup Runner-Up 1938/39.

Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	Other
10th Old Boys	-	-	Amateur	-	-
Belfast Celtic	-	-	Amateur	-	-
Ballyclare.Comrades	-	-	Amateur	-	-
Aircraft Works	-	-	Amateur	-	-
Ballymena United	38/39-39/40	c/s-38	Amateur	*51/6	-
TOTALS		£-		-	-

* all games

Biography:
To follow.

Ireland Amateur Cap Details:
18-02-1939 England H L 0-1

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